Knowledge of the Digestive Microflora: Evaluation of Breastfeeding on the Establishment of the Gut Microbiota of the Newborn

Souad Bouchachia

doi:10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.12

Abstract

At birth, the newborn has no bacteria in its gut. This last is rapidly colonized by microbial flora (microbiota) from, mainly of the mother and environment. The main objective is the study of the influence of breastfeeding in the establishment of the intestinal microbial flora in the newborn. The secondary objective of this work was to analyze the bacterial diversity in feces of breast-fed infants and to compare it with that of formula-fed ones. Five pairs of mother-child and 5 fed formula have participated in the study. The Samples were taken at 1, 7, 30 and 90 days and plated out on various culture media. The present study shows that breast milk plays a major role in the development of the intestinal microbiota of the child. The results of this comparative study showed that the fecal matter of a mother breast-fed infants are more rich in probiotics and less rich in pathogenic bacteria that infants receiving infant formula.

Highlights

The human body is inhabited by numerous bacteria located mainly in the intestine known as the gut microbiota [1]
This study confirms our results find that the same lactic strains such as Bifidobacterium spp, Lactobacillus paracasei ssp paracasei 1, Lactobacillus acidophilus 1, Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp delbrueckii, Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp cremoris found in breast milk and infant feces
The present study shows the abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia, Staphylococcus in feces of infants receiving infant formula compared to infants breastfed maternally feces is due to the rich breast milk by specific factors that promote the growth of potentially beneficial bacteria and inhibit the potentially pathogenic germs

Summary

Introduction

The human body is inhabited by numerous bacteria located mainly in the intestine known as the gut microbiota [1]. The intestinal microbiota contains approximately 1014 bacteria in 4 bacterial phyla: the Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria [2]. Intestinal bacteria colonize our gut in the first hours of life and form an early ecosystem remarkably stable throughout life [3]. The newborn, sterile at birth, is colonized with flora from contact with his mother and environment [4]. Human milk represents one of the main factors that play a critical role in influencing infant’s microbiota composition, being a direct source of microbes [5]. Research over the past decade has confirmed the essential role of breast milk in the establishment a healthy intestinal microbiota within the infant [6]

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Conclusion