Asthma is a group of inflammatory conditions that compromises the airways of a continuously increasing number of people around the globe. Its complex etiology comprises both genetic and environmental aspects, with the intestinal and lung microbiomes emerging as newly implicated factors that can drive and aggravate asthma. Longitudinal infant cohort studies combined with mechanistic studies in animal models have identified microbial signatures causally associated with subsequent asthma risk. The recent inclusion of fungi in human microbiome surveys has revealed that microbiome signatures associated with asthma risk are not limited to bacteria, and that fungi are also implicated in asthma development in susceptible individuals. In this review, we examine the unique properties of human-associated and environmental fungi, which confer them the ability to influence immune development and allergic responses. The important contribution of fungi to asthma development and exacerbations prompts for their inclusion in current and future asthma studies in humans and animal models.

哮喘是一组炎症性疾病，危害着全球不断增长的人们的呼吸道。其复杂的病因学既包括遗传方面的问题，也包括环境方面的问题，其中肠道和肺部微生物群落是新出现的因素，可导致和加重哮喘。纵向婴儿队列研究与动物模型中的机理研究相结合，已确定与随后的哮喘风险有因果关系的微生物特征。人类微生物组调查中最近包括的真菌表明，与哮喘风险相关的微生物组特征不仅限于细菌，而且真菌还与易感人群的哮喘发展有关。在这篇评论中，我们研究了人类相关和环境真菌的独特特性，赋予他们影响免疫发育和过敏反应的能力。真菌对哮喘发展和恶化的重要贡献促使其被纳入人类和动物模型的当前和未来哮喘研究中。