Early Life Upper Airway Microbial Composition Dynamics Influence Respiratory Disease Development in the CANOE Cohort
Recommended Citation
Deiss-Yehiely E, Sugino K, Grindle K, Gern J, Rosas-Salazar C, Zoratti E, Singh AM, Jackson D, Rivera-Spoljaric K, Lynch S. Early Life Upper Airway Microbial Composition Dynamics Influence Respiratory Disease Development in the CANOE Cohort. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2026; 157(2):AB276.
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2-10-2026
Publication Title
J Allergy Clin Immunol
Keywords
age, child, chronic rhinitis, clinical outcome, cohort analysis, conference abstract, human, infant, longitudinal study, major clinical study, male, microbial community, nasopharyngeal swab, nonhuman, prevalence, respiratory tract disease, upper respiratory tract
Abstract
Rationale: Prenatal and early post-natal factors contribute to the airway microbiome and the risk of chronic rhinitis. We hypothesize that distinct longitudinal microbial community trajectories exist that predispose infants to chronic rhinitis. Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs (n=894) at ages 0, 4, and 12 months from 298 children enrolled in the Childhood Allergy and the NeOnatal Environment (CANOE) cohort had DNA extracted and the 16S V4 region sequenced. We identified unique ASVs and used Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA) models to determine trajectory group membership, which were compared to 12-month clinical outcome of chronic rhinitis. Results: Age was significantly related to alpha diversity (increased richness [Chao1 and Faith’s] and decreased evenness [Shannon and Pielou’s]), (p<0.001, Wilcoxon) and beta diversity (Bray-Curtis and Sorensen indices explained 10.5% and 16.5% of variance, p<0.001, PERMANOVA). These relationships were strongest between ages 0-4 months. We identified two trajectories that bifurcated at 4 months and continued to diverge at 12 months. Trajectory membership helps describe the microbial composition variance at birth (0.81%, p = 0.004, PERMANOVA). Changes in microbial composition significantly varied by trajectory (p < 0.001, estimated slope comparison), and we noted a trend for differences in chronic rhinitis prevalence assessed at age 1 year (p = 0.08, Χ2). Conclusions: Two airway microbiome growth trajectories show clear divergence in composition as early as 4 months of age and trend toward associations with chronic rhinitis, demonstrating that the early life microbial community composition could influence the development of chronic rhinitis.
Volume
157
Issue
2
First Page
AB276
