Abstract
BackgroundThe initialization of the neonatal gut microbiota (GM) is affected by diverse factors and is associated with infant development and health outcomes.MethodsIn this study, we collected 207 faecal samples from 41 infants at 6 time points (1, 3, and 7 days and 1, 3, and 6 months after birth). The infants were assigned to four groups according to delivery mode (caesarean section (CS) or vaginal delivery (VD)) and feeding pattern (breastfeeding or formula milk).ResultsThe meconium bacterial diversity was slightly higher in CS than in VD. Three GM patterns were identified, including Escherichia/Shigella-Streptococcus-dominated, Bifidobacterium-Escherichia/Shigella-dominated and Bifidobacterium-dominated patterns, and they gradually changed over time. In CS infants, Bifidobacterium was less abundant, and the delay in GM establishment could be partially restored by breastfeeding. The frequency of respiratory tract infection and diarrhoea consequently decreased.ConclusionThis study fills some gaps in the understanding of the restoration of the GM in CS towards that in VD.
Highlights
The initialization of the neonatal gut microbiota (GM) is affected by diverse factors and is associated with infant development and health outcomes
All microbial samples were assigned to four groups according to delivery mode (VD and caesarean section (CS)) and feeding pattern: VD_B (14 infants with 69 samples), VD_F (10 infants with 53 samples), CS_B (7 infants with 31 samples) and CS_F (10 infants with 54 samples) (Fig. 1, Table 1)
There were no significant differences in infant gender, gestational age or mother’s age (Table 1, Supplementary File 1) between groups
Summary
The initialization of the neonatal gut microbiota (GM) is affected by diverse factors and is associated with infant development and health outcomes. The intestinal tract hosts millions of microbial colonizers, and the gut microbiota (GM) is positively associated with human health [1, 2]. A wide variety of reports have demonstrated that caesarean section (CS) blocks gut and vaginal microbiota transmission from mothers to neonates, which delays subsequent health development [2, 3]. Recent analyses have revealed that human milk promoted the functional maturation of GM after parturition [8]. A series of studies indicated that GM maturation was positively associated with pediatric health in the early life, named the window of opportunity [9,10,11,12]. We aimed to reveal whether breastfeeding could restore the GM established in CS towards
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