The microbiota of the mother at birth and its influence on the emerging infant oral microbiota from birth to 1 year of age: a cohort study

Abstract

Background: The acquisition of microbial communities and the influence of delivery mode on the oral microbiota of the newborn infant remains poorly characterised. Methods: A cohort of pregnant women were enrolled in the study (n = 84). All infants were born full term, by Spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) or by Caesarean section (CS). At delivery a saliva sample along with a vaginal/skin sample from the mother. Saliva samples were the taken from the infant within one week of birth, and at week 4, week 8, 6 months and 1 year of age. We used high-throughput sequencing of V4-V5 region 16S rRNA amplicons to compare the microbiota of all samples. Results: The vaginal microbiota had a lower alpha diversity than the skin microbiota of the mother, while the infant oral microbiota diversity remained relatively stable from birth to 8 weeks of age. The oral microbiota of the neonate differed by birth modality up to 1 week of age (p < 0.05), but birth modality did not have any influence on the infant oral microbiota beyond this age. Conclusions: We conclude thatbirth mode does not have an effect on the infant oral microbiota beyond 4 weeks of age, and the oral microbiota of infants continues to develop until 1 year of age.

Acquisition and establishment of the oral microbiota

“…Slackia exigua was exclusively found in the infants delivered by Cesarian section ( n = 38); these infants also showed a higher prevalence of certain lactobacilli and Streptococcus parasanguinis , and a lower prevalence of Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Leptotrichia/Sneathia , S. sanguinis , and Cardiobacterium than vaginally delivered infants ( n = 25) 36 . Another study, of a cohort of 83 Irish infants (43 of whom were delivered by Cesarian section), confirmed significant differences in diversity and microbial composition of saliva in the first week since delivery, while in the follow‐up samples, collected at weeks 4 and 8 and at months 6 and 12, the difference according to delivery mode was lost 40 . A recent study on the salivary microbiome of Swedish children, followed from birth until the age of 7, did not confirm the differences in microbial diversity, but did find significant delivery mode‐related differences at the microbial profile level up to the age of 6 months, followed by a convergence in similarity of the microbial profiles over time 41 .…”

“…36 Another study, of a cohort of 83 Irish infants (43 of whom were delivered by Cesarian section), confirmed significant differences in diversity and microbial composition of saliva in the first week since delivery, while in the follow-up samples, collected at weeks 4 and 8 and at months 6 and 12, the difference according to delivery mode was lost. 40 A recent study on the salivary microbiome of Swedish children, followed from birth until the age of 7, did not confirm the differences in microbial diversity, but did find significant delivery mode-related differences at the microbial profile level up to the age of 6 months, followed by a convergence in similarity of the microbial profiles over time. 41 At the age of 7 years, quite in contrast to the direction of the finding from the study, described above, on 3-month-old infants, 36 a significantly higher proportion of genus Haemophilus was found in saliva of children delivered by Cesarian section (n = 12) compared with children delivered vaginally (n = 68).…”

The infant pharyngeal microbiomes: origin, impact and manipulation

“…Saliva samples from 84 infants over the first year of life clustered distinctly from their mothers' peripartum vaginal, skin and saliva samples 29 , while Drell et al 28 report minimal overlap between infant oral flora and maternal gut or vaginal flora.…”

“…Interestingly, Teo et al 38 report no significant effect of feeding or delivery modality on the nasopharyngeal microbiome at 2 months, although over half of their samples were taken during episodes of RTI. Other studies also identify significant differences associated with feeding or delivery modality for infant oral flora 9,29 , as well as a reduction in infant oral Lactobacillus and increased abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria associated with intrapartum vaginal disinfection 39 .…”

Implantation Rates with Adding Vaginal Lactobacilli to Luteal Phase Support in Patients Undergoing Fresh Embryo Transfer in IVF/ICSI Cycles

“…3 Doğum şeklinin vajinal doğum ya da sezaryen olması durumunda doğan çocukta mikrobiyota farklılıklarının olduğu ve doğum şeklinin mikrobiyom gelişimi üzerinde önemli etkisi olduğu birçok çalışmada savunulmuştur. 4,5 Vajinal mikrobiyotanın infertilite ve yardımcı üreme tekniklerindeki yeri henüz tam olarak anlaşılamamıştır. Ancak Mikoplazma, Klamidya ve Neisseria Gonore gibi mikroorganizmaların infertilite ile ilişkili olabileceği ve bakteriyel vajinozis gibi hastalıklara sebep olarak mikrobiyotada değişiklikler üzerinden infertiliteye yol açabileceği düşünülmektedir.…”