Composition of gut microbiota in infants in China and global comparison

Abstract

Symbiotic gut microbiota is essential for human health, and its compositional changes have been associated with various complex disorders. However, systematic investigation of the acquisition and development of gut microbial communities during early infancy are relatively rare, particularly for infants from non-Western countries. In this study, we characterize the colonization and development of infant microbiota in healthy Chinese infants and compare the pattern with those from other countries. The fecal microbiota of 2-month-old infants was considerably more diverse than that of neonates, as indicated by higher relative abundances of Veillonella, Clostridium, Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Collinsella and Prevotella, and reduction of Escherichia and Enterococcus. The fecal microbiota of vaginally delivered infants (both neonates and 2-month-old) had significant enrichment of Bacteroides, Parabacteroides and Megamonas, whereas cesarean delivered infants had enrichment of Prevotella, Streptococcus and Trabulsiella. By global comparison, we identify three different enterotypes, referred as “P-type”, “A-type ”and “F-type” which were highly abundant in Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes, respectively. The three enterotypes’ compositons vary geographically. All Chinese infants in our study belong to the P-type. These findings may provide novel insights into our understanding of the establishment of infant fecal bacterial communities.

Evolution of the Gut Microbiome in Early Childhood: A Cross-Sectional Study of Chinese Children

“…Most infants from western countries are A-type, with 82% of American, 79% of Canadian, and 54% of Swedish infants being A-type, whereas most of those in Bangladeshi (70%) are F-type (Kuang et al, 2016). It has been reported that Chinese infants (age < 3 months) are predominately P-type (Kuang et al, 2016). Consistently, our data also demonstrated that Chinese infants aged 0-3 months were dominated by Proteobacteria.…”

“…In contrast, the gut microbiome of C-section-delivered infants is similar to the mothers' skin microbiome, which has predominately Staphylococcus (phylum Firmicutes), Corynebacterium (phylum Actinobacteria), and Propionibacterium (phylum Actinobacteria) (Dominguez-Bello et al, 2010). A previous study of Chinese newborns (neonates and 2-month-olds) showed that vaginal delivery results in an enrichment of Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, and Megamonas, whereas C-section delivery led to an enrichment of Prevotella, Streptococcus, and Trabulsiella (Kuang et al, 2016). It is worth noting that Prevotella, which are enriched in vaginally delivered Amerindian infants (Dominguez-Bello et al, 2010), are also found in C-section-delivered Chinese infants (Kuang et al, 2016).…”

“…Despite similar developmental patterns in accordance with the timing of food change, the gut microbiota of infants from different countries exhibit different types of microbial composition. These are typified by P-type (abundant in Proteobacteria), A-type (abundant in Actinobacteria), and F-type (abundant in Firmicutes) developmental patterns (Kuang et al, 2016). Most infants from western countries are A-type, with 82% of American, 79% of Canadian, and 54% of Swedish infants being A-type, whereas most of those in Bangladeshi (70%) are F-type (Kuang et al, 2016).…”

“…These are typified by P-type (abundant in Proteobacteria), A-type (abundant in Actinobacteria), and F-type (abundant in Firmicutes) developmental patterns (Kuang et al, 2016). Most infants from western countries are A-type, with 82% of American, 79% of Canadian, and 54% of Swedish infants being A-type, whereas most of those in Bangladeshi (70%) are F-type (Kuang et al, 2016). It has been reported that Chinese infants (age < 3 months) are predominately P-type (Kuang et al, 2016).…”

Effect of Delivery Mode and Nutrition on Gut Microbiota in Neonates

“…Streptococcus was more abundant in the gut microbiome of CS-delivered neonates 25-40 h after delivery than in that of vaginally delivered neonates (relative abundance 12 vs. 1%, respectively) [22]. Analysis of the gut microbiome of neonates in China 2-3 days after birth showed that Streptococcus accounted for 3% of the relative abundance in vaginally delivered neonates compared with 17% in CS-delivered neonates [23]. Because Streptococcus is frequently detected on human skin [24], CS-delivered neonates are thought to acquire Streptococcus more readily than vaginally delivered neonates because they have more contact with adults including medical staff.…”