Immune-mediated diseases such as allergies, asthma, and autoimmune disorders have increased alongside urbanization. A suspected cause is an overly clean environment, where contact with nature and its microbes is lost. Adjunct Professor Olli Laitinen researches the health effects of microbial exposure at Tampere University. He also serves as Chief Research Officer at Uute Scientific Ltd, a company that produces an extract containing inactivated microbes.
Olli Laitinen’s research group at Tampere University and Uute Scientific have utilized the computing and sensitive data services of Finland’s ELIXIR node at CSC – IT Center for Science in their studies. Over the course of more than ten years, samples have been collected from over 500 individuals, including infants, preschoolers, and adults. Part of the data has been stored in CSC’s secure environment.
Laitinen emphasizes that the root cause of today’s immune-mediated diseases is the loss of contact with nature and living in an overly sanitized environment.
For example, atopic dermatitis is a common, partly hereditary disease that affects approximately 20–30% of the Finnish population. Its symptoms include itching, dryness, roughness, redness, and skin lesions. The underlying cause is abnormal immune system function.
“In the Nordic countries, atopic dermatitis is prevalent. It has been observed that many immune-mediated diseases become more common at the population level as one moves northward.”
The PREVALL project, led by the universities of Tampere and Helsinki, has studied the impact of plant- and soil-based materials on the development of allergies in children. The project has also investigated whether the onset of atopic dermatitis in infants could be prevented.
Read more here:
ELIXIR is partly funded by the European Commission