Abstract
Maternal bacteria are shared with infants via breastfeeding. Prebiotics modulate the gut microbiota, promoting health benefits. We investigated whether the maternal diet supplementation with a prebiotic (fructooligosaccharides, FOS) could influence the milk microbiota. Twenty-eight lactating women received 4.5 g of fructooligosaccharides + 2 g of maltodextrin (FOS group) and twenty-five received 2 g of maltodextrin (placebo group) for 20 days. Breast-milk samples were taken before and after the intervention. The DNA from samples was used for 16S rRNA sequencing. No statistical differences between the groups were found for the bacterial genera after the intervention. However, the distances of the trajectories covered by paired samples from the beginning to the end of the supplementation were higher for the FOS group (p = 0.0007) indicating greater changes in milk microbiota compared to the control group. Linear regression models suggested that the maternal age influenced the response for FOS supplementation (p = 0.02). Interestingly, the pattern of changes to genus abundance upon supplementation was not shared between mothers. We demonstrated that manipulating the human milk microbiota through prebiotics is possible, and the maternal age can affect this response.
Highlights
The gut microbiota has been shown to play an important role in human health [1,2]
Given that prebiotics can be utilized by host microorganisms, promoting benefits to host health, we investigated whether the maternal diet supplementation with prebiotics could influence the dynamics of the human milk microbiota
We explored the trajectory of the human milk microbiota from the starting point to the ending point in the Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) by the supplemented groups (Figure 3A,B)
Summary
The gut microbiota has been shown to play an important role in human health [1,2]. The human gut colonization by microorganisms mainly begins at birth. Dietary practices including formula or breast feeding and use of antibiotics have been linked to the assembly of the gut microbiota structure [8,9]. Maternal-neonate microbial transfers have been suggested to be evolutionary and have been preserved in several species of the animal kingdom [10]. They can occur during delivery, by the birth canal [11], and via breastfeeding [12]. Bäckhed et al [11] demonstrated that vaginally delivered newborns have a more similar gut bacterial profile to their mothers’ gut, when compared to
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