Impact of delivery mode-associated gut microbiota dynamics on health in the first year of life

Marta Reyman,Kayleigh Arp,Mei Ling J N Chu,Elisabeth A M Sanders,Wing Ho Man,Susana Fuentes,Marlies A Van Houten,Astrid A T M Bosch,Debbie Van Baarle,Debby Bogaert,Rebecca L Watson

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13014-7

Abstract

The early-life microbiome appears to be affected by mode of delivery, but this effect may depend on intrapartum antibiotic exposure. Here, we assess the effect of delivery mode on gut microbiota, independent of intrapartum antibiotics, by postponing routine antibiotic administration to mothers until after cord clamping in 74 vaginally delivered and 46 caesarean section born infants. The microbiota differs between caesarean section born and vaginally delivered infants over the first year of life, showing enrichment of Bifidobacterium spp., and reduction of Enterococcus and Klebsiella spp. in vaginally delivered infants. The microbiota composition at one week of life is associated with the number of respiratory infections over the first year. The taxa driving this association are more abundant in caesarean section born children, providing a possible link between mode of delivery and susceptibility to infectious outcomes.

Highlights

In our study, we investigate a cohort of 120 healthy children not directly exposed to intrapartum antibiotics (Microbiome Utrecht Infant Study [MUIS])
We found substantial differences in the gut microbiota composition and stability between vaginally delivered (VD) and caesarean section (CS) children, especially in the first months of life, with notably Bifidobacterium being more abundant in VD children, consistent with literature[19,20,21,22,23]
We found that in children born by CS, the colonization with Bifidobacterium was significantly delayed, which was not affected by feeding type

Summary

Introduction

We investigate a cohort of 120 healthy children not directly exposed to intrapartum antibiotics (Microbiome Utrecht Infant Study [MUIS]). We characterized the infant fecal microbiota composition and dynamics over the first year of life and assess, next to delivery mode, the effect of multiple variables, such as feeding type and early-life antibiotic use. We report on differences in the fecal microbiota between CS and vaginally delivered (VD) infants over the first year of life, independent of maternal antibiotics. The overall microbiota composition differs most pronouncedly between the delivery mode groups at 1 week of age. At this early timepoint, the microbiota composition is associated with the number of respiratory infections (RIs) a child will suffer from in the first year of life. Taxa strongly associated with more RIs are more abundant in CS children, providing a possible link between mode of delivery and susceptibility to infectious outcomes

Methods

Results

Conclusion