Gastrointestinal Tract Of Breast-fed Infants Research Articles

Campylobacter jejuni uses energy taxis and a dehydrogenase enzyme for l-fucose chemotaxis.

In this study, we identify a separate role for the Campylobacter jejuni l-fucose dehydrogenase in l-fucose chemotaxis and demonstrate that this mechanism is not only limited to C. jejuni but is also present in Burkholderia multivorans. We now hypothesize that l-fucose energy taxis may contribute to the reduction of l-fucose-metabolizing strains of C. jejuni from the gastrointestinal tract of breastfed infants, selecting for isolates with increased colonization potential.

Bifidobacterium catabolism of human milk oligosaccharides overrides endogenous competitive exclusion driving colonization and protection

ABSTRACT Understanding how exogenous microbes stably colonize the animal gut is essential to reveal mechanisms of action and tailor effective probiotic treatments. Bifidobacterium species are naturally enriched in the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are associated with this enrichment. However, direct mechanistic proof of the importance of HMOs in this colonization is lacking given milk contains additional factors that impact the gut microbiota. This study examined mice supplemented with the HMO 2ʹfucosyllactose (2ʹFL) together with a 2ʹFL-consuming strain, Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum MP80. 2ʹFL supplementation creates a niche for high levels of B.p. MP80 persistence, similar to Bifidobacterium levels seen in breast-fed infants. This synergism impacted gut microbiota composition, activated anti-inflammatory pathways and protected against chemically-induced colitis. These results demonstrate that bacterial-milk glycan interactions alone drive enrichment of beneficial Bifidobacterium and provide a model for tunable colonization thus facilitating insight into mechanisms of health promotion by bifidobacteriain neonates.

Indole-3-lactic acid associated with Bifidobacterium-dominated microbiota significantly decreases inflammation in intestinal epithelial cells

BackgroundBifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) is a commensal bacterium that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants. B. infantis can efficiently utilize the abundant supply of oligosaccharides found in human milk (HMO) to help establish residence. We hypothesized that metabolites from B. infantis grown on HMO produce a beneficial effect on the host.ResultsIn a previous study, we demonstrated that B. infantis routinely dominated the fecal microbiota of a breast fed Bangladeshi infant cohort (1). Characterization of the fecal metabolome of binned samples representing high and low B. infantis populations from this cohort revealed higher amounts of the tryptophan metabolite indole-3-lactic acid (ILA) in feces with high levels of B. infantis. Further in vitro analysis confirmed that B. infantis produced significantly greater quantities of the ILA when grown on HMO versus lactose, suggesting a growth substrate relationship to ILA production. The direct effects of ILA were assessed in a macrophage cell line and intestinal epithelial cell lines. ILA (1-10 mM) significantly attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of NF-kB in macrophages. ILA significantly attenuated TNF-α- and LPS-induced increase in the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 in intestinal epithelial cells. ILA increased mRNA expression of the aryl hydrogen receptor (AhR)-target gene CYP1A1 and nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2)-targeted genes glutathione reductase 2 (GPX2), superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), and NAD(P) H dehydrogenase (NQO1). Pretreatment with either the AhR antagonist or Nrf-2 antagonist inhibited the response of ILA on downstream effectors.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that ILA, a predominant metabolite from B. infantis grown on HMO and elevated in infant stool high in B. infantis, and protects gut epithelial cells in culture via activation of the AhR and Nrf2 pathway.

Sweetness characterization of recombinant human lysozyme.

Lysozyme, a bacteriolytic enzyme, is widely distributed in nature and is a component of the innate immune system. It is established that chicken egg lysozyme elicits sweetness. However, the sweetness of human milk lysozyme, which is vital for combating microbial infections of the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants, has not been characterized. This study aimed to assess the elicitation of sweetness using recombinant mammalian lysozymes expressed in Pichia pastoris. Recombinant human lysozyme (h-LZ) and other mammalian lysozymes of mouse, dog, cat and bovine milk elicited similar sweetness as determined using a sensory test, whereas bovine stomach lysozyme (bs-LZ) did not. Assays of cell cultures showed that h-LZ activated the human sweet taste receptor hT1R2/hT1R3, whereas bs-LZ did not. Point mutations confirmed that the sweetness of h-LZ was independent of enzyme activity and substrate-binding sites, although acidic amino acid residues of bs-LZ played a significant role in diminishing sweetness. Therefore, we conclude that elicitation of sweetness is a ubiquitous function among all lysozymes including mammalian lysozymes. These findings may provide novel insights into the biological implications of T1R2/T1R3-activation by mammalian lysozyme in the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract. However, the function of lysozyme within species lacking the functional sweet taste receptor gene, such as cat, is currently unknown.

Use of bifidobacterial specific terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms to complement next generation sequence profiling of infant gut communities

Bifidobacteria are intestinal anaerobes often associated with gut health. Specific bifidobacterial species are particularly common in the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants. Current short read next-generation sequencing approaches to profile fecal microbial ecologies do not discriminate bifidobacteria to the species level. Here we describe a low-cost terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) procedure to distinguish between the common infant-associated bifidobacterial species. An empirical database of TRF sizes was created from both common reference strains and well-identified isolates from infant feces. Species-specific quantitative PCR validated bifidobacterial-specific TRFLP profiles from infant feces. These results indicate that bifidobacterial-specific TRFLP is a useful method to monitor intestinal bifidobacterial populations from infant fecal samples. When used alongside next generation sequencing methods that detect broader population levels at lower resolution, this high-throughput, low-cost tool can help clarify the role of bifidobacteria in health and disease.

Human milk fat globules: Polar lipid composition and in situ structural investigations revealing the heterogeneous distribution of proteins and the lateral segregation of sphingomyelin in the biological membrane

Although human milk fat globules (MFG) are of primary importance since they are the exclusive lipid delivery carriers in the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants, they remain the poorly understood aspect of milk. The objectives of this study were to investigate these unique colloidal assemblies and their interfacial properties, i.e. composition and structure of their biological membrane. In mature breast milk, MFG have a mean diameter of 4–5μm, a surface area of about 2m2/g fat and an apparent zeta potential ζ=−6.7±0.5mV at 37°C. Human MFG contain 3–4mg polar lipids/g fat as quantified by HPLC/ELSD. The main polar lipids are sphingomyelin (SM; 36–45%, w/w), phosphatidylcholine (19–23%, w/w) and phosphatidylethanolamine (10–15%, w/w). In situ structural investigations of human MFG have been performed using light and confocal microscopy with adapted fluorescent probes, i.e. Nile Red, the extrinsic phospholipid Rh-DOPE, Fast Green and the lectin WGA-488. This study revealed a spatial heterogeneity in the human milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), with the lateral segregation of SM in liquid-ordered phase domains of various shapes and sizes surrounded by a liquid-disordered phase composed of the glycerophospholipids in which the proteins are dispersed. The glycocalyx formed by glycoproteins and cytoplasmic remnents have also been characterised around human MFG. A new model for the structure of the human MFGM is proposed and discussed. The unique composition and lateral organisation of the human MFGM components could be of metabolic significance and have health impact for the infants that need to be further explored.

Potential host-defense role of a human milk vitamin B-12–binding protein, haptocorrin, in the gastrointestinal tract of breastfed infants, as assessed with porcine haptocorrin in vitro

Limited information exists on the biological role of a vitamin B-12-binding protein, haptocorrin, in human milk. The expression of haptocorrin by human mammary epithelial cells and its presence in human milk suggest a potential physiologic function in breastfed infants. We investigated the extent to which haptocorrin could withstand proteolytic degradation and exert antimicrobial activity under in vitro conditions designed to simulate the gastrointestinal tract of breastfed infants. An in vitro model that simulates infant gastric and intestinal digestion was developed. The structural stability of porcine haptocorrin after exposure to digestive enzymes (pepsin and pancreatin) was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blot analysis, column chromatography, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The antimicrobial activity of haptocorrin was determined by incubating haptocorrin with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O127 strain 2348/69 and monitoring bacterial growth. The structural analysis of haptocorrin exposed to enzymes did not show a decrease in molecular weight, which indicated that haptocorrin can survive proteolytic degradation. Both haptocorrin exposed to digestive enzymes and undigested haptocorrin inhibited the growth of enteropathogenic E. coli and did so to a similar extent. Thus, haptocorrin in vitro not only retains its structure after exposure to proteases but also exhibits antimicrobial activity. These results suggest that haptocorrin may exert a host-defense function against pathogens in the gastrointestinal tracts of breastfed infants.

The complete digestion of human milk triacylglycerol in vitro requires gastric lipase, pancreatic colipase-dependent lipase, and bile salt-stimulated lipase.

Gastric lipase, pancreatic colipase-dependent lipase, and bile salt-stimulated lipase all have potential roles in digestion of human milk triacylglycerol. To reveal the function of each lipase, an in vitro study was carried out with purified lipases and cofactors, and with human milk as substrate. Conditions were chosen to resemble those of the physiologic environment in the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants. Gastric lipase was unique in its ability to initiate hydrolysis of milk triacylglycerol. Activated bile salt-stimulated lipase could not on its own hydrolyze native milk fat globule triacylglycerol, whereas a limited hydrolysis by gastric lipase triggered hydrolysis by bile salt-stimulated lipase. Gastric lipase and colipase-dependent lipase, in combination, hydrolyzed about two thirds of total ester bonds, with monoacylglycerol and fatty acids being the end products. Addition of bile salt-stimulated lipase resulted in hydrolysis also of monoacylglycerol. When acting together with colipase-dependent lipase, bile salt-stimulated lipase contributed also to digestion of tri- and diacylglycerol. We conclude that digestion of human milk triacylglycerol depends on three lipases with unique, only partly overlapping, functions. Their concerted action results in complete digestion with free glycerol and fatty acids as final products.