Determinants and Duration of Impact of Early Gut Bacterial Colonization

Abstract

Background: An increasing number of studies show low diversity of the gut microbiome in those with chronic diseases such as obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, and allergy. Manipulation of the microbiota may promote health. However, the adult microbiota is stable and may be difficult to change. Understanding the fixed and modifiable factors, which determine colonization in early life, may provide strategies for acquisition of a health-promoting microbiome. Summary: Not enough is known about the long-term effects of established determinants of gut colonization, including delivery mode, perinatal antibiotics, and infant diet. It has been suggested that weaning onto solid diet containing non-digestible carbohydrates and cessation of breastfeeding are key stages in the colonization process. In addition, the microbiome of the placenta, amniotic fluid, and breast milk, alongside vaginal and fecal bacteria, may aid the transfer of maternal bacteria to the infant. However, methodological issues such as contamination during collection and/or analysis should be considered. Key Messages: The factors determining early colonization are becoming more evident. However, longitudinal studies of microbiome maturation into late childhood and adulthood are required. The nutrition and health status of the mother before, during, and after birth may be major factors in the early colonization of the infant.

Plasma metabolite profiles in children with current asthma

“…32 Gut microbes have long been hypothesized to interact with the immune system in ways that may alter risk of allergies and asthma, and a number of publications now show compositional differences in the gut microbiome when allergic disease risk factors or allergic disease phenotypes are present. [33][34][35][36][37][38] It has been hypothesized that p-cresol sulphate may indicate a gut microbiome enterotype dominated by Bacteroides, 32 and asthma status is intriguing, further research is required to uncover the connection between the gut microbiome, the circulating metabolome, and their combined relationship to asthma.…”

Pathogens, microbiome and the host: emergence of the ecological Koch's postulates

“…The microbiome is shaped by different deterministic forces, including maternal transmission at birth (Dogra et al 2015;Frese and Mills 2015;Rutayisire et al 2016;Stokholm et al 2016;Edwards 2017), nutrition (Turnbaugh et al 2006;De Filippo et al 2010;Muegge et al 2011;David et al 2014;Donovan and Comstock 2016;Kashtanova et al 2016;Araújo et al 2017;Donovan 2017;Edwards 2017), host genetics (Leamy et al 2014;Camarinha-Silva et al 2017), the use of different food additives or drugs (Dethlefsen et al 2008;Modi, Collins and Relman 2014;Chassaing et al 2015Chassaing et al , 2017Namasivayam et al 2017;Pourabedin et al 2017;Uebanso et al 2017) and infection (Hoffmann et al 2009;Hill et al 2010;Braun et al 2017). The immune system's dynamic IgA host response to the microbiota (Suzuki et al 2004;Peterson et al 2007;Macpherson, Geuking and Slack 2012;Slack et al 2012;Pabst, Cerovic and Hornef 2016;Moor et al 2017) and its action to hamper bacteria from interacting with the gut tissue (immune exclusion) and to grow (enchained growth; Moor et al 2017), as well as other innate and adaptive immune mechanisms, also have an important role in controlling the microbiota and shaping the community structure (Ivanov et al 2009; (A) (B) Figure 1.…”

Gut microbiota changes in the extreme decades of human life: a focus on centenarians

“…Moreover, during vaginal delivery, a considerable inoculum of maternal intrauterine microbes is received by the neonate and, after birth, neonatal gut colonization is continued by microbes present in maternal milk and feces, with human milk factors (e.g., complex polysaccharides and antibodies) selectively promoting the growth of mutualistic microbial partners. Thus, antibiotic exposure during pregnancy, cesarean section delivery, postnatal antibiotic administration, and formula feeding may all alter the early intestinal microecology, and these factors have been associated with the risk of disease in later life [ 30 – 34 ]. These findings reveal that the aging process could also depend on early stimuli and experiences that may exert long-term effects.…”