Abstract
Background and Aims: Few studies consider the joint effect of multiple factors related to birth, delivery mode, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis and the onset of labour, on the abundance of Bifidobacterium and the quantity of this genus and its species Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis in the infant gut microbiota. We implemented such a study. Methods: Among 1654 Canadian full-term infants, the gut microbiota of faecal samples collected at 3 months were profiled by 16S rRNA sequencing; the genus Bifidobacterium and Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis were quantified by qPCR. Associations between Bifidobacterium and other gut microbiota were examined by Spearman’s rank correlation. Results: Following vaginal birth, maternal IAP exposure was associated with reduced absolute quantities of bifidobacteria among vaginally delivered infants (6.80 vs. 7.14 log10 (gene-copies/g faeces), p < 0.05), as well as their lowered abundance relative to other gut microbiota. IAP differences in infant gut bifidobacterial quantity were independent of maternal pre-pregnancy body-mass-index (BMI), and remarkably, they were limited to breastfed infants. Pre-pregnancy BMI adjustment revealed negative associations between absolute quantities of bifidobacteria and CS with or without labour in non-breastfed infants, and CS with labour in exclusively breastfed infants. Significant correlations between Bifidobacterium abundance and other microbial taxa were observed. Conclusions: This study documented the impact of the birth mode and feeding status on the abundance of gut Bifidobacterium, and pointed to the important ecological role of the genus Bifidobacterium in gut microbiota due to its strong interaction with other gut microbiota in early infancy.
Highlights
How we are born shapes the development of our gut microbiota
876 infants were born vaginally without maternal intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) exposure (52.96%) and 375 were born vaginally following maternal IAP (22.67%); 10.40% (n = 172) and 13.97% (n = 231) of infants were delivered by Caesarean section (CS) with and without labour, respectively
The lowest level of postnatal infant antibiotic use was observed among vaginally delivered infants without IAP, while infants delivered by CS with labour had the highest level of postnatal antibiotic use (Table S1)
Summary
How we are born shapes the development of our gut microbiota. Caesarean section (CS) birth alters the gut microbiota of the young infant with its signature influence being the substantial reduction in the abundance of Bacteroidetes species [1,2]. Bifidobacteria are minimally depleted immediately after birth in the meconium (first stool) of infants born by caesarean, with or without labour, compared to vaginal delivery [8,9]. Few studies consider the joint effect of multiple factors related to birth, delivery mode, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis and the onset of labour, on the abundance of Bifidobacterium and the quantity of this genus and its species Bifidobacterium longum subsp. Results: Following vaginal birth, maternal IAP exposure was associated with reduced absolute quantities of bifidobacteria among vaginally delivered infants
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