Team discovers asthma ‘cure’ in dust found in rural US farms

Dynamic duo: Dr Snyder (left) and Dos Santos. — The Straits Times/ANN

FOR years, scientists in the United States noticed that children raised on farms and exposed to a diverse range of allergens were generally less predisposed to asthma and other forms of allergies compared with those growing up in cities.

But one particular group intrigued them – the Amish community, a traditionalist Christian group largely living in the farming belts of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Researchers found that children raised in these communities had one of the lowest rates of asthma, even when compared with children raised on other farms.

The Amish have long been known for preferring traditional farm life and shunning modern technology.

In 2016, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that Amish children had their immune systems bolstered by dust found in their homes, which contained microbes from farm animals such as cows. Their homes are often located near animal barns.

Scientists from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) took the research a step further and identified the precise chemical compounds present in dust that are responsible for protection against asthma in children.

Dr Shane Snyder, who is the executive director of NTU’s Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, and his team have identified four chemical compounds.

One of the compounds has been found to be effective in preventing asthma when tested on human lung cell cultures.

The chemical compounds were not present in animals from industrial farms, he noted.

“It appears that the animals living in these rural farms are not under stress, and are maybe producing different chemicals compared with animals which are under stress,” said Dr Snyder.

Mauricius Marques Dos Santos, a researcher working with Dr Snyder on the project, noted that when various treatments are given to animals in industrial farms, these change their microbiome, which eventually leads to chemical changes in the proteins within their bodies.

“When these molecular changes occur in animals, they also affect humans when we come into contact with the animals or their products.

“These original, unaltered molecules are the ones that are able to offer some protection against asthma and allergies,” he added. — The Straits Times/ANN