Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Probio-M9 may be vertically transmitted from mother to infant during lactation based on faeces metagenomics

Abstract

Probiotics exert beneficial effects on the host. This study aimed to investigate whether maternally ingested Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus Probio-M9 during pregnancy could access and colonize the infant gut. This study recruited one pregnant woman, who ingested Probio-M9 daily from 35 weeks of gestation to delivery. Feces of the mother-infant pair were regularly collected from one month before delivery to 6 months of infant’s age for metagenomic sequencing. Probio-M9 genomes were mappable to all infant fecal samples, suggesting the ingested probiotics could be vertically transmitted from mother to infant. Infant- or mother-specific differential metabolic pathways were found between the maternal and infant’s gut microbiome, implicating apparent differences in the intestinal metagenomic potential/function between the mother and the infant. In conclusion, maternal ingestion of Probio-M9 during the final weeks of gestation could deliver to the infant gut. The findings provided novel insights into shaping infant’s gut microbiota.