Has your house ever been too
clean? It has most likely been too
dirty, though. So, where is the fine
line between livable dirty and unlivable dirty?
Maybe your version of livable dirty
means if you have to dust you will simply die.
Dust comes from everywhere. Also,
it is difficult to eliminate completely. Thick layers of dust could be a sign
that it is time to change a dirty furnace or air conditioner filter. Vacuum cleaners give off excess dust, too.
There are GREEN alternatives to a dusty, loud vacuum cleaner. Sanding in your living room produces dust,
too. Dust can also be introduced into your home through air leaks in ducts, or
air infiltration through leaky doors and windows. A deep cough might not be distracting to
everybody.
Well, recently in a study entitled,
House dust exposure mediates gut microbiome Lactobacillus enrichment and
airway immune defense against allergens and virus infection, Researchers
Homer A. Bousheyd and Edward Zorattie, Gastroenterology Pulmonary Critical Care
Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, Department of Pathology,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, explained thoroughly that having a house
that is a little bit dirty will help some allergies, especially during early
development.
Lactobacillus johnsonii
is a species in the genus Lactobacillus with the type strain ATCC 33200. This strain protects against allergies.
“Early-life exposure to dogs is
protective against allergic disease development, and dog ownership is
associated with a distinct milieu of house dust microbial exposures. Here, we
show that mice exposed to dog-associated house dust are protected against airway
allergen challenge. These animals exhibit reduced Th2 cytokine production,
fewer activated T cells, and a distinct gut microbiome composition, highly
enriched for Lactobacillus johnsonii, which itself can confer airway protection
when orally supplemented as a single species. This study supports the
possibility that host–environment interactions that govern allergic or
infectious airway disease may be mediated, at least in part, by the impact of
environmental exposures on the gastrointestinal microbiome composition and, by
extension, its impact on the host immune response (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24344318).”
Reduced Th2 cytokine production, or suppression, alleviates allergic
inflammation.
“Exposure of animals to dust from
homes with dogs attenuates the development of allergen-induced airways disease
and serum IgE. (A) Whole-lung mRNA analysis by Q-PCR demonstrates a significant
decrease in IL-4 and IL-13 in D dust-supplemented, but not in NP-supplemented
animals compared with controls. (B) Accompanying the Th2 cytokine reduction was
significantly reduced expression of the mucus-associated gene, gob5. (C)
Reduced airway mucus secretion and goblet cell metaplasia is observed in the D
dust-supplemented animals, as depicted by PAS staining in lung histology. (D) A
reduction in draining lymph node numbers in D dust-supplemented animals was
also observed. (E) Serum IgE levels reflected the reduction in the development
of the Th2 environment in the D dust-supplemented animals. Data represent the
mean ± SE from five mice per group; *P < 0.05 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24344318).”
“Exposure to house dust alters
cecal microbiome composition. UniFrac-based cluster analysis of cecal
microbiota of control, D dust- and NP dust-supplemented animals reveals
distinct microbiota compositions in each treatment group. (B) Phylogenetic tree
displaying all taxa that exhibited significant (P < 0.05; q < 0.15)
relative enrichment (red bars) or depletion (green bars) in airway-protected
mice supplemented with D-associated house dust compared with unprotected
control animals. Phyla are indicted by color: Acidobacteria (light blue),
Actinobacteria (teal), Bacteriodetes (purple), Firmicutes (green),
Proteobacteria (red), and other (orange). Family designation of highly enriched
or depleted taxa are indicated (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24344318).”
“Compared with unsupplemented control
animals, communities supplemented with L. johnsonii or L. johnsonii followed by
CRA exposure exhibit the greatest phylogenetic distance (*P < 0.0005, **P
< 0.0001, respectively)( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24344318).”
“The change in the immune
environment observed in these studies may be due directly to the specific
supplemented bacterial species, the ancillary species that are enriched because
of the presence of the supplemented species, or the depletion of organisms
outcompeted in this remodeled assemblage, that differentially program host
immune responses. Although the fundamental mechanisms that govern this
phenomenon remain unclear, the studies reported here provide proof-of-principle
that differential environmental exposures result in GI microbiome remodeling
that impacts host immune responses associated with both allergic airway
response and respiratory viral infection. Moreover, this study identifies a single
GI bacterial species, L. johnsonii, that is pivotal to airway protection, and
identifies functional gene pathways in protective microbiota that may be
responsible for airway protection. These studies suggest that GI microbiome
manipulation represents a promising and efficacious therapeutic strategy to
protect individuals against both pulmonary infection and allergic airway
disease (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24344318).”
Livable dirty isn’t a synonym for nasty,
but one piece of dust can contain pet dander, pieces of dead cockroaches, mold
spores, dead skin and dust mites. Both
cockroaches and pet dander are common allergy triggers, too. Cockroach waste,
saliva, and body parts are a problem in some homes, particularly in the
southern U.S.
Keep the stuffed animals, soft toys, and other dust
collectors because a little dirty can make you tough. Let the dog use his natural dusting
abilities, and vacuum mouth. Dust
containing the Lactobacillus johnsonii strain serves to protect against
allergies.
