Our results indicate that consumption of farm milk may offer protection against asthma and allergy. A deepened understanding of the relevant protective components of farm milk and a better insight into the biological mechanisms underlying this association are warranted as a basis for the development of a safe product for prevention.

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In this population-based study, 90 children from three European countries were examined to determine the impact of lifestyle on the fecal microbiota. The study was designed to assess the impact of two extreme lifestyles that we hypothesized could impact the microbial composition in the gut: i.e., an anthroposophic lifestyle (restricted use of antibiotics, greater consumption of fermented vegetables, etc.) versus living on a farm (greater consumption of farm milk, contact with animals, etc.). In previous studies, these lifestyles correlated with lower prevalence of allergies. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) was used to assess the bacterial composition in fecal samples since recent studies have shown that the majority of this community cannot be cultivated. The T-RFLP data were used to calculate richness and evenness of the fecal microbiota. Children that were attending Steiner schools (anthroposophic children) had a significantly higher diversity of microbes in their feces than farm children, who in turn also had lower diversity than the control groups. Specific primers were also used to focus on the Lactobacillus-like community (lactic acid bacteria [LAB]). Large differences were found in the LAB subpopulations in the sampled groups. In some children, the LAB subpopulation was dominated by a species that has not yet been cultivated.

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SUMMARYThe occurrence of Brachyspira species and Lawsonia intracellularis was investigated by PCR analyses of faeces from 60 children living on European pig farms. In addition, 60 other children were included as controls. Two samples were positive for B. aalborgi but B. pilosicoli and L. intracellularis were not demonstrated.Two species of the genus Brachyspira, B. aalborgi and B. pilosicoli, have been associated with human intestinal spirochaetosis (HIS) [1,2]. The clinical significance of HIS is largely unknown. In Western countries, B. aalborgi seems to be more common with reported prevalences of for example, 7 . 9 % [3] or 70 % of submitted cases of HIS [4]. Brachyspira pilosicoli is more frequent in developing countries with reported prevalences of 15-23 % [2,3,5]. Further, B. pilosicoli and the intracellular rod Lawsonia intracellularis are major causes of enteric disease in young, growing pigs with 32% and 48 %, respectively, of the herds being infected [6,7]. The infection causes similar clinical signs and the microbes often occur concomitantly. L. intracellularis have been isolated in a wide range of other animal species, e.g. pig, hamster, horse, guinea pig, dog, lamb, calf, ferret, fox, deer, rabbit, rat, mouse, ratites, wild boar, wolf, giraffe, hedgehog, and primates. The broad host range raises the question whether natural cross-species transmission might occur. L. intracellularis belongs to the Desulfovibrionaceae family and in patients with ulcerative colitis an increased carriage of closely related bacteria has been demonstrated. The microbe causes proliferative enteropathy, characterized by crypt hyperplasia of immature cells. The lesions are morphologically similar to those found in patients with coeliac disease and hypotheses regarding a similar aetiology have been proposed. However, the bacterium has never been reported in humans [8][9][10].The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of Brachyspira species and L. intracellularis in faeces from children living on European pig farms and compare the findings to those in children not living on pig farms.