Gastrointestinal, vaginal, nasopharyngeal, and breast milk microbiota profiles and breast milk metabolomic changes in Gambian infants over the first two months of lactation: a prospective cohort study
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Microbiota composition in breast milk affects intestinal and respiratory microbiota colonization and the mucosal immune system's development in infants. The metabolomic content of breast milk is thought to interact with the microbiota and may influence developing infant immunity.
Methods: 107 Gambian mothers and their healthy, vaginally delivered, exclusively breastfed infants were included in our study. We analyzed 32 breast milk samples, 51 maternal rectovaginal swabs and 30 infants' rectal swabs at birth. We also analyzed 9 breast milk samples and 18 infants' nasopharyngeal swabs 60 days post-delivery. We used 16S rRNA gene
sequencing to determine the microbiota composition. Metabolomic profiling analysis was performed on colostrum and mature breast milk samples using a multiplatform approach combining 1-H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.
Results: Bacterial communities were distinct in composition and diversity across different sample types. Breast milk composition changed over the first 60 days of lactation. α-1,4- and α-1,3-fucosylated human milk oligosaccharides, and other 33 key metabolites in breast milk
(monosaccharides, sugar alcohols and fatty acids) increased between birth and day of 60 life.
Conclusions: This study's results indicate that infant gut and respiratory microbiota are unique bacterial communities, distinct from maternal gut and breast milk, respectively. Breast milk microbiota composition and metabolomic profile change throughout lactation. These changes
may contribute to the infant's immunological, metabolic, and neurological development and could consist the basis for future interventions to correct disrupted early life microbial colonization.
Methods: 107 Gambian mothers and their healthy, vaginally delivered, exclusively breastfed infants were included in our study. We analyzed 32 breast milk samples, 51 maternal rectovaginal swabs and 30 infants' rectal swabs at birth. We also analyzed 9 breast milk samples and 18 infants' nasopharyngeal swabs 60 days post-delivery. We used 16S rRNA gene
sequencing to determine the microbiota composition. Metabolomic profiling analysis was performed on colostrum and mature breast milk samples using a multiplatform approach combining 1-H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.
Results: Bacterial communities were distinct in composition and diversity across different sample types. Breast milk composition changed over the first 60 days of lactation. α-1,4- and α-1,3-fucosylated human milk oligosaccharides, and other 33 key metabolites in breast milk
(monosaccharides, sugar alcohols and fatty acids) increased between birth and day of 60 life.
Conclusions: This study's results indicate that infant gut and respiratory microbiota are unique bacterial communities, distinct from maternal gut and breast milk, respectively. Breast milk microbiota composition and metabolomic profile change throughout lactation. These changes
may contribute to the infant's immunological, metabolic, and neurological development and could consist the basis for future interventions to correct disrupted early life microbial colonization.
Date Issued
2022-11-18
Date Acceptance
2022-09-29
Citation
Medicine, 2022, 101 (46), pp.1-10
ISSN
0025-7974
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
Medicine
Volume
101
Issue
46
Copyright Statement
© 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
License URL
Sponsor
The Imperial College Wellcome Trust Centre for Global Health Research
Identifier
https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/Fulltext/2022/11180/Gastrointestinal,_vaginal,_nasopharyngeal,_and.31.aspx
Subjects
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Female
Milk, Human
Breast Feeding
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Prospective Studies
Gambia
Lactation
Microbiota
Bacteria
Milk, Human
Humans
Bacteria
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Prospective Studies
Breast Feeding
Lactation
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Gambia
Female
Microbiota
Arthritis & Rheumatology
1103 Clinical Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-11-18