Early life events influence whole-of-life metabolic health via gut microflora and gut permeability

Abstract

The capacity of our gut microbial communities to maintain a stable and balanced state, termed 'resilience', in spite of perturbations is vital to our achieving and maintaining optimal health. A loss of microbial resilience is observed in a number of diseases including obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. There are large gaps in our understanding of why an individual's co-evolved microflora consortium fail to develop resilience thereby establishing a trajectory towards poor metabolic health. This review examines the connections between the developing gut microbiota and intestinal barrier function in the neonate, infant and during the first years of life. We propose that the effects of early life events on the gut microflora and permeability, whilst it is in a dynamic and vulnerable state, are fundamental in shaping the microbial consortia's resilience and that it is the maintenance of resilience that is pivotal for metabolic health throughout life. We review the literature supporting this concept suggesting new potential research directions aimed at developing a greater understanding of the longitudinal effects of the gut microflora on metabolic health and potential interventions to recalibrate the 'at risk' infant gut microflora in the direction of enhanced metabolic health.

Glycerol Monolaurate Inhibits Lipase Production by Clinical Ocular Isolates Without Affecting Bacterial Cell Viability

“…23 Culture independent analyses of the ocular microbiome-in contrast to the relatively low culturable bioburden on the eye-are reporting a robust community of complex dynamics. 19 As with other regions of the body, microbial dysbiosis characterized by shifts in populations and a loss of species diversity-a feature of chronic disease 24 -can occur in the ocular microbiome. How these communities shift in chronic dry eye is a matter of great interest.…”

Neuroendocrine adaptations to bariatric surgery

“…There is clear evidence that both low and high extremes of weight for gestation at birth, babies conceived using in-vitro fertilisation and the offspring born to mothers with type-2 diabetes and gestational diabetes are at risk of obesity and its related metabolic disorders (Dyer and Rosenfeld, 2011;Nadif et al, 2015;Sparano et al, 2013). There is also growing interest in the immediate post natal environment and its subsequent influence on weight trajectory and propensity to develop weight related disease (Kerr et al, 2014;Seach et al, 2010). Preventing obesity will not be achieved by attempting to change individual behaviors with reliance on will power and compliance (Atkinson, 1997).…”

“…So many aspects of the way we live have changed over recent decades and many of these are strongly associated with obesity and its related comorbidity and complications (McAllister et al, 2009). Indeed, a wide range of the determinants of weight trajectory for life appear to be set in very early life -perhaps the most important 4 years are those prior to a child's 3rd birthday (Gluckman and Hanson, 2008;Kerr et al, 2014;Leong, 2013). Early life, including preconception and intrauterine, can establish predictive adaptation and programming whereby a mismatch between fetal expectation and the actual post natal environment develops, generating obesity and related metabolic disorders.…”

Of the bugs that shape us: maternal obesity, the gut microbiome, and long-term disease risk

“…Paracellular pathways are defined by a number of proteins, although is mainly restricted by tight junctions including the claudins, occludins, and junctional adhesion molecule A (82). There is some evidence that the intestinal barrier changes during pregnancy compared with the non-pregnant state (83) but is an area that is significantly under investigated.…”