Allergy, living environment, lifestyle as well as skin and gut microbiota in dogs and their owners

Associations between skin and gut microbiota, lifestyle and living environment as well as the prevalence of allergy was examined in privately owned pet dogs and their owners. The skin microbiota samples were collected from the volar forearms. Each skin sample was collected with a moisturized (sterile solution of 0.15 M NaCl and 0.1% Tween 20.) swab (Floqswabs, Copan flock technologies), by swabbing a small area several times up to down and from left to right, constantly rotating the swab. These samples were further characterized by the bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences. Lifestyle factors, residential environment, and allergic symptoms were quantified with a large questionnaire.