Development of intestinal bacterial enzymes in infants--relationship to mode of delivery and type of feeding.

Abstract

To evaluate the development of intestinal flora in young infants, and especially to estimate the influence of mode of delivery and type of feeding on the establishment of intestinal microflora, faecal flora was studied indirectly by measuring prospectively the faecal bacterial enzyme activities (beta-glucosidase, beta-glucuronidase and urease) in 29 full-term, healthy infants during the first 6 months of life. Mode of delivery had no influence on the faecal enzyme activities. In contrast, infants receiving formula feeds were more often urease positive at 1-2 months of age (70% vs 25%, p=0.043) and had higher median activity of beta-glucuronidase at 6 months of age (0.90 and 0.19 nmoles/mg protein x min, p= 0.0043) than exclusively breast-fed infants. Through indirect methods to measure the development of a faecal microflora our results indicate that the type of milk that infants receive during the first months of life may have an important role in the development of intestinal flora.