Vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy and early infancy in relation to gut microbiota composition and C. difficile colonization: implications for viral respiratory infections

Abstract

In Canada and the US, the infant diet is supplemented with vitamin D via supplement drops or formula. Pregnant and nursing mothers often take vitamin D supplements. Since little is known about the impact of this supplementation on infant gut microbiota, we undertook a study to determine the association between maternal and infant vitamin D supplementation, infant gut microbiota composition and Clostridioides difficile colonization in 1,157 mother-infant pairs of the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) Cohort Study over 2009-2012. Logistic and MaAsLin regression were employed to assess associations between vitamin D supplementation, and C. difficile colonization, or other gut microbiota, respectively. Sixty-five percent of infants received a vitamin D supplement. Among all infants, infant vitamin D supplementation was associated with a lower abundance of genus Megamonas (q = 0.01) in gut microbiota. Among those exclusively breastfed, maternal prenatal supplementation was associated with lower abundance of Bilophila (q = 0.01) and of Lachnospiraceae (q = 0.02) but higher abundance of Haemophilus (q = 0.02). There were no differences in microbiota composition with vitamin D supplementation among partially and not breastfed infants. Neither infant nor maternal vitamin D supplementation were associated with C. difficile colonization, after adjusting for breastfeeding status and other factors. However, maternal consumption of vitamin-D fortified milk reduced the likelihood of C. difficile colonization in infants (adjustedOR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.19-0.82). The impact of this compositional difference on later childhood health, especially defense against viral respiratory infection, may go beyond the expected effects of vitamin D supplements and remains to be ascertained.

The Association between Vitamin D and Gut Microbiota: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

“…As described in Table 1, we found 14 interventional studies, 7 of which were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. The other 11 were observational studies, of which 4 were cohorts [34][35][36][37], 6 were cross-sectional [38][39][40][41][42][43] and 1 was a case-control study [44].…”

“…The populations selected were predominantly healthy and were mostly composed of volunteers and students. Five studies were conducted on cohorts of pregnant women [29,[34][35][36][37]. The other studies enrolled participants with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease [38,[44][45][46], followed by multiple sclerosis [47], cystic fibrosis [30], HIV [31], and prediabetes [27].…”

Insight Into the Potential Value of Gut Microbial Signatures for Prediction of Gestational Anemia

“…Megamonas , Veillonella , and Haemophilus were enriched in GA. Megamonas could act as a beneficial bacterium, and it has been reported that compared to healthy microbiota, canine anal furunculosis (CAF) microbiota showed a decreased abundance of Megamonas ( Maldonado-Contreras et al., 2020 ). Nevertheless, another study illustrated infant vitamin D supplementation was associated with a lower abundance of Megamonas in gut microbiota, implying the potential competitive relationship between vitamin D and Megamonas ( Drall et al., 2020 ). Veillonella species, documented as the Fe (III)-reducing genera, were capable of supplying Fe (II) to combine with oxygen in Hb ( Jin et al., 2019 ).…”

Impact of Early Life Nutrition on Children’s Immune System and Noncommunicable Diseases Through Its Effects on the Bacterial Microbiome, Virome and Mycobiome

“…No difference was noted regarding b diversity. Prenatal maternal vitamin D supplementation (17) No association with infant Clostridium difficile colonization in crude or adjusted models Prenatal maternal milk consumption (>3 cups per day compared to less or 1 cup per day) (17) Statistical significant lower odds of Clostridium difficile colonization in exclusively breastfed infants Maternal vitamin D supplementation (18) Infant's gut microbiota is altered according to the dose of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy Maternal consumption of vitamin D fortified milk (17) Reduced chances of Clostridium difficile colonization in infants Maternal high fruit consumption among vaginally born infants (6) Increased odds for high Streptococcus/Clostridium gut colonization Maternal diet rich in red processed meat among babies delivered by caesarian section (6) Increased numbers of Bifidobacterium in offspring.…”

“…and Clostridium difficile , underlining that the levels of vitamin D during pregnancy affect the offspring’s gut microbiota composition ( 18 ). In a subset of 1,157 mother-infant pairs of the CHILD Cohort study, maternal consumption of vitamin-D fortified milk was associated with reduced the likelihood of C. difficile colonization in infants ( 17 ).…”