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A recent study by respiratory researchers from Perth has found that OM-85, an immune-boosting medication, could help prevent babies from developing asthma.

Led by PhD student Niamh Troy from the and , the study showed that the medication that contains a mixture of dead bacteria protected babies from severe lung infections. 鈥淪evere respiratory viral infections in early life are linked to asthma development later in life,鈥� Troy said.

The latest findings build on a 2019 clinical trial with collaborators at . 鈥淥ur previous research found it was possible to reduce the severity of respiratory infections in babies using OM-85 but for this study we wanted to understand how it changed their immune system,鈥� Troy said.

Troy and her collaborators looked at samples from babies who were given OM-85 or a placebo to see how their immune genes functioned when faced with infection.

鈥淲e found that the babies who received the treatment had a stronger immune 鈥榓larm鈥� system that sent a signal to the immune system in the early stages of infection. We also found those babies had lower inflammatory responses to infection,鈥� Troy said.

鈥淓ssentially, we found the treatment 鈥榯rained鈥� the babies鈥� immune defences, which helped them to be able fight off severe infections. It didn鈥檛 stop the usual colds and sniffles that babies get, but it stopped these infections getting really bad. And it is these bad infections that can increase the risk of asthma later on.

鈥淲e were missing a piece of the puzzle. Understanding why this treatment works is critical to progressing this therapy into routine clinical care聽鈥� and hopefully one day preventing children from developing asthma.鈥�

These findings are said to help inform the Wal-yan Centre鈥檚 goal of developing a vaccine-like approach to prevent asthma. 鈥淏y understanding how OM-85 helps babies to fight off respiratory infections, we鈥檙e one step closer to understanding how to prevent them going on to develop asthma,鈥� Troy said.

鈥淲e are really excited about these findings. We hope to extend our research into larger trials and work with international collaborators with the aim of making this treatment available to all babies that are at risk of asthma.鈥�

Image credit: 漏stock.adobe.com/au/Photographee.eu