Abstract
BackgroundThe infant’s intestine contains diverse microbiota, which play an important role in an infant’s health.ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the different intestinal microbiota and their function in two delivery modes [vaginal delivery and cesarean section (C-section)] and to investigate the proprieties of bacteria associated with vaginal delivery on the development of intestinal epithelial cells in rat pups.Materials and MethodsWe evaluated the intestinal microbial diversity of the stool samples of 51 infants of subjects who underwent vaginal delivery and C-section by sequencing the V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene and predicted the function of the microbiotas. The infant stool microbiota in the vaginal delivery group was associated with the digestive system and cell growth and death, whereas that of the C-section group was associated with membrane transport. Then, we isolated the strains based on function prediction.ResultsA total of 95 strains were isolated in the vaginal delivery group. Bifidobacterium bifidum FL-228.1 (FL-228.1) was screened and selected owing to its good surface hydrophobicity, bacterial survivability in the simulated gastrointestinal condition and adhesion ability to the IEC-6 cell line as well as owing to the development of intestinal epithelial cells. Furthermore, in vivo experiments revealed that FL-228.1 exhibited favorable effects on the development of intestinal epithelial cells in rat pups.ConclusionThe results of this study indicate an apparent difference in the bacterial composition of the stool samples collected from infants of the two delivery modes. By analyzing and screening the bacteria in infant stool samples, we found that one strain, i.e., B bifidum FL-228.1, exhibited favorable effects on the development of intestinal epithelial cells.
Highlights
The human intestinal microbiota comprises trillions of microbes and contains millions of functional genes that are mutually beneficial to the host (Friedrich, 2013)
Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes are abundant at the phylum level, whereas Bifidobacterium is the dominant species at the genus level (Lundgren et al, 2018)
For all samples, the microbiota of C-section infants exhibited higher Chao1 index than those of vaginal delivery infants; the difference was not significant. This indicated that the infants in the vaginal delivery group had a higher number of bacterial species than the infants in the C-section group
Summary
The human intestinal microbiota comprises trillions of microbes and contains millions of functional genes that are mutually beneficial to the host (Friedrich, 2013). An infant’s intestine begins to be colonized by various microorganisms, including Enterobacteria, Enterococci, Staphylococci, Bifidobacteria, and Lactobacilli (Nagpal et al, 2017). These microbiota colonized on the intestine play an important role in infant growth and affect the child’s overall health status (Maldonadolobón et al, 2015). Compared with vaginal delivery infants, the intestinal microbiota of cesarean section (C-section) infants predominantly originate from the mother’s skin as well as from microorganisms in the environment. The infant’s intestine contains diverse microbiota, which play an important role in an infant’s health
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