Infection and immunity from a lifecourse perspective: Life Study Enhancement

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) 2013-11, Vol.382 (S3), p.S35-S35
• Main Authors: Field, Nigel, Dr, Townsend, Claire L, PhD, Rodger, Alison J, MD, Lawley, Trevor D, PhD, Riley, Eleanor M, Prof, Brocklehurst, Peter, Prof
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: antibodies; Biological samples; biomedical research; blood; childhood; children; cohort studies; Colonization; cooperative research; Data collection; feces; Genetics; genome; human diseases; human health; Immune system; immunity; Internal Medicine; Medical research; microbial colonization; microorganisms; Morbidity; Mortality; neonates; Pathogens; placenta; pregnant women; Public health; public policy; R&D; Research & development; saliva; urine; vaccines
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62460-5

Abstract Background Perinatal and childhood acquisition of micro-organisms, both pathogens and the colonising microbiota, constitute major exposures that affect morbidity and mortality throughout the lifecourse. We are only beginning to understand the crucial role that microbial colonisation of the newborn (particularly in the gut) has as a determinant of future health and disease. Equally, the immune system is both modified by and modifies our response to pathogens according to the composition of early microbial colonisation, the source and timing of infection, the nature of the organism, host and microbe genetics, and the immune repertoire inherited or acquired from the mother and father. As such, there is growing awareness of the importance of microbes and the immune system as powerful causative agents in human disease. We aim to test a wide range of specific scientific hypotheses relating to associations between human health and the microbiota, acquisition of pathogens, development of the innate and adaptive immune systems, and the fetal and maternal genome and epigenome. We also aim to create a future-proofed biological archive of up to 90 000 mother and baby paired samples for longitudinal research on the associations between early life exposures and subsequent health and developmental outcomes. Methods We are developing an Infection and Immunity Enhancement to Life Study, a new birth cohort study aiming to recruit up to 90 000 pregnant women across the UK, starting in 2014. Life Study is unique in both size and breadth, providing the statistical power to investigate associations that could not otherwise be explored, with extensive data collection planned across a wide range of research domains, including social, environmental, clinical, and basic sciences. Biological samples will be collected, including cord blood, placenta, faeces, saliva, vaginal swabs, and urine, at birth from mother or child, or both, with further sampling in the first year of the child's life. This study provides an ideal opportunity to explore the importance of early infectious and immunological events in the development of disease using a range of objective biomedical measures. The use of nested case-control designs will lend particular efficiency because analysis will be undertaken on a subset of biological samples, preserving most for subsequent scientific outputs. Interpretation The Infection and Immunity Enhancement to Life Study will have substantial scientific, clinical