Infant Mode of Delivery Shapes the Skin Mycobiome of Prepubescent Children

Abstract

Human skin is permanently colonized by microbes starting at birth. The hygiene hypothesis suggests that a lack of early-life immune imprinting weakens the body’s resilience against atopic disorders later in life.

The Role of the Mycobiome in Women’s Health

“…Additionally, in the case of women’s health, it has been found that the mode of birthing by the mother can impact the skin mycobiome composition or diversity [ 25 ]. Through sequencing analyses, it has been found that vaginally born children exhibit skin mycobiomes with vagina-associated fungi, such as Candida or Rhodotorula , whereas cesarean-delivered children include mycobiomes with a greater presence of skin or airborne-associated genera, such as Malassezia and Alternaria [ 25 ].…”

“…Additionally, in the case of women’s health, it has been found that the mode of birthing by the mother can impact the skin mycobiome composition or diversity [ 25 ]. Through sequencing analyses, it has been found that vaginally born children exhibit skin mycobiomes with vagina-associated fungi, such as Candida or Rhodotorula , whereas cesarean-delivered children include mycobiomes with a greater presence of skin or airborne-associated genera, such as Malassezia and Alternaria [ 25 ]. While that may seem rather obvious, other findings demonstrate more surprising findings, such as cesarean mycobiomes exhibiting more niche-based processes, fragile networks, and unchanged dissimilarity not observed in vaginally born mycobiomes [ 25 ].…”

“…Through sequencing analyses, it has been found that vaginally born children exhibit skin mycobiomes with vagina-associated fungi, such as Candida or Rhodotorula , whereas cesarean-delivered children include mycobiomes with a greater presence of skin or airborne-associated genera, such as Malassezia and Alternaria [ 25 ]. While that may seem rather obvious, other findings demonstrate more surprising findings, such as cesarean mycobiomes exhibiting more niche-based processes, fragile networks, and unchanged dissimilarity not observed in vaginally born mycobiomes [ 25 ]. These findings demonstrate that it is of great importance not only for the adult host to study mycobiomes but that through analyses of mothers, information can be gained about the influences of the early development of mycobiomes, as well as hygiene-based analyses of the microbiome [ 25 ].…”

“…While that may seem rather obvious, other findings demonstrate more surprising findings, such as cesarean mycobiomes exhibiting more niche-based processes, fragile networks, and unchanged dissimilarity not observed in vaginally born mycobiomes [ 25 ]. These findings demonstrate that it is of great importance not only for the adult host to study mycobiomes but that through analyses of mothers, information can be gained about the influences of the early development of mycobiomes, as well as hygiene-based analyses of the microbiome [ 25 ]. Furthermore, neonatal fungal information helps prevent or reduce early exposure or incidence of infections in newborns [ 26 ].…”

LiveMalasseziastrains isolated from the mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis

“…A positive correlation between Malassezia and Bacteroides , which is a predominant bacterial genus in the human gut, has been reported 22 . Furthermore, studies utilizing skin swabs and fecal samples from infants suggested that Malassezia is transmitted from the mother and colonized in the gut of infants, although the abundance of the fungus gradually decreases upon aging 23,24 . These findings suggest that Malassezia resides in both skin and gut mucosa and that the fungus has evolutionally adapted to a distinct niche-specific environment.…”