Donated Human Milk as a Determinant Factor for the Gut Bifidobacterial Ecology in Premature Babies

Abstract

Correct establishment of the gut microbiome is compromised in premature babies, with Bifidobacterium being one of the most affected genera. Prematurity often entails the inability to successfully breastfeed, therefore requiring the implementation of other feeding modes; breast milk expression from a donor mother is the recommended option when their own mother’s milk is not available. Some studies showed different gut microbial profiles in premature infants fed with breast milk and donor human milk, however, it is not known how this affects the species composition of the genus Bifidobacterium. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of donated human milk on shaping the gut bifidobacterial populations of premature babies during the first three months of life. We analyzed the gut bifidobacterial communities of 42 premature babies fed with human donor milk or own-mother milk by the 16S rRNA–23S rRNA internal transcriber spaces (ITS) region sequencing and q-PCR. Moreover, metabolic activity was assessed by gas chromatography. We observed a specific bifidobacterial profile based on feeding type, with higher bifidobacterial diversity in the human donor milk group. Differences in specific Bifidobacterium species composition may contribute to the development of specific new strategies or treatments aimed at mimicking the impact of own-mother milk feeding in neonatal units.

Early-Life Development of the Bifidobacterial Community in the Infant Gut

“…This contrasts with the situation in adults where increased microbiota diversity is generally considered beneficial and associated with reduced disease risk [ 47 ]. However, our findings are in good agreement with other studies in which high bifidobacteria diversity has been reported in situations where the scenario for the gut microbiota development is not ideal [ 34 ].…”

“…The levels of total Bifidobacterium as well as those of the species B. bifidum , B. breve , B. catenulatum , B. dentium , B. longum , B. angulatum , B. animalis subsp. lactis , and B. adolescentis were determined by qPCR using the methods described elsewhere [ 25 , 34 ].…”

“…In this regard, the Internally Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequence, the region between the 16S rRNA and the 23S rRNA genes within the rRNA locus, has demonstrated to be an applicable marker for Bifidobacterium species, and an ITS-based protocol (ITS- Bifidobacterium profiling) has been developed to this end [ 31 ]. This ITS-based protocol has been used to track the vertical transmission of bifidobacteria [ 32 , 33 ] or the effect of donor versus own-mother milk on the bifidobacterial community in premature babies [ 34 ]. In this context, we hypothesized that, as occurs with the global microbiota composition, the pattern of establishment of the bifidobacterial populations in the neonate is affected by perinatal factors such as prematurity, delivery mode, or infant feeding mode.…”

In vitro Selection of Probiotics for Microbiota Modulation in Normal-Weight and Severely Obese Individuals: Focus on Gas Production and Interaction With Intestinal Epithelial Cells

“…The absolute levels of relevant intestinal microbial groups ( Bacteroides - Prevotella - Porphyromonas group, Lactobacillus -group, Akkermansia , Clostridium cluster XIVa, Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium genera) as well as total bacteria were determined at 0 and 24 h of fermentation by qPCR using previously described primers and conditions ( Valdés et al, 2017 ). Variations in the levels of the species B. longum, B. bifidum , B. animalis , Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Bifidobacterium catenulatum were assessed as described elsewhere ( Salazar et al, 2015 ; Arboleya et al, 2020 ). In order to investigate microbial changes as regards to the basal microbiota, the data were expressed as the log-ratio of the Fold Change before (time 0) and after 24 h incubation with different probiotic strains.…”

Effect of Intrapartum Antibiotics Prophylaxis on the Bifidobacterial Establishment within the Neonatal Gut

“…However, this has provided limited knowledge on the impact of IAP at lower taxonomical levels. To overcome this limitation, developing next-generation techniques, such as the sequencing of the Internally Transcribed Spacer (ITS) within the rRNA locus [ 64 ], was useful as marker of Bifidobacterium species, as it has been demonstrated in studies focused on the vertical transmission of bifidobacteria [ 65 ], the effect of using donor and own-mother’s milk on the premature bifidobacterial community [ 66 ] or the impact of several perinatal factors on the establishment of Bifidobacterium species in premature and full-term babies [ 63 ].…”