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2630558 
Journal Article 
Abstract 
The impact of pet ownership on microbial communities in settled house dust 
Fujimura, K; Johnson, CC; Ownby, DR; Cox, MJ; Brodie, E; Zoratti, E; Woodcroft, K; Bobbitt, KR; Wegienka, G; Boushey, H; Lynch, SV 
2010 
Yes 
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
ISSN: 1073-449X
EISSN: 1535-4970 
181 
A5634 
English 
WOS:000208771003711 
is part of a larger document 3452678 Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference, May 14-19, 2010, New Orleans
RATIONALE: High rates of allergic disease in Westernized countries have led to the hypothesis that lack of microbial exposures early in life may play a key role in subsequent allergy and asthma development. Furred pet ownership has been shown in many studies to be protective against allergic disease development in children which we hypothesize is due to the distinct household microbial communities associated with pet ownership.

METHODS: Dust samples from seventeen households with dog(s), cat(s) or no pets were examined. The 16S rRNA PhyloChip, a high-density bacterial microarray and automated rRNA intergenic spacer analysis and sequencing were used to profile bacterial and fungal communities. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to examine community structure. Wilcoxon or Welch’s t-tests were performed to determine differences in community structure, metrics (diversity, richness, and evenness) and taxonomic abundances across groups.

RESULTS: Bacterial communities from dog owning households were significantly richer (p<0.036), more diverse (p<0.036) and possessed 45 taxa in significantly higher abundance compared to those with no pets. The majority of these taxa were Proteobacteria, typically detected in early stages of infant GI colonization. Parallel analysis of fungal communities demonstrated significantly lower fungal richness in dog-owning households compared to cat (p<0.010) or no pet homes (p<0.031). Fungal species detected primarily belonged to the Dothideomycetidaceae and Eurotiomycetidae, which include plant pathogens and allergenic fungi. HCA demonstrated two clearly distinct groups of samples (G1 and G2). Compared with G2 samples, G1 bacterial communities were significantly richer (p<0.008), more even (p<0.002), more diverse (p<0.001) and were from dog and cat-owning households. In comparison, G2 samples included all of the no pet households and a number of dog- and cat-owning homes which possessed animals that were either exclusively indoor or outdoor pets or were very young and recently introduced to the home.

CONCLUSION: These data suggest that homes in which pets are permitted both outdoors and indoors possess significantly higher bacterial diversity that coincide with reduced fungal richness. We speculate that infant exposure to this milieu may shape immune development by a number of potential mechanisms that reduce development of atopic disease. 
American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference 
New Orleans, LA 
May 14-19, 2010