Impact of postpartum hospital length of stay on infant gut microbiota: a comprehensive analysis of vaginal and caesarean birth.

Background: The primary concern with prolonged hospitalization following birth is the risk of acquiring hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) caused by opportunistic bacteria, which can alter the early establishment of gut microbiota.

Objective: To assess the association between postpartum hospital length of stay (LOS) and the composition of gut microbiota at 3 and 12 months of age according to birth mode.

Methods: In total, 1313 Canadian infants from the CHILD Cohort Study were involved in this study.

Antibiotics taken within the first year of life are linked to infant gut microbiome disruption and elevated atopic dermatitis risk.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease in both pediatric and adult populations. The development of AD has been linked to antibiotic usage, which causes perturbation of the microbiome and has been associated with abnormal immune system function. However, imbalances in the gut microbiome itself associated with antibiotic usage have been inconsistently linked to AD.

The use of prescription medications and non-prescription medications during lactation in a prospective Canadian cohort study.

Background: A lack of safety data on postpartum medication use presents a potential barrier to breastfeeding and may result in infant exposure to medications in breastmilk. The type and extent of medication use by lactating women requires investigation.

Methods: Data were collected from the CHILD Cohort Study which enrolled pregnant women across Canada between 2008 and 2012.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of gut microbiome-associated childhood overweight and obesity.

Childhood obesity is linked to maternal smoking during pregnancy. Gut microbiota may partially mediate this association and could be potential targets for intervention; however, its role is understudied. We included 1,592 infants from the Canadian Healthy Infants Longitudinal Development Cohort.

Pre-labor and post-labor cesarean delivery and early childhood adiposity in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Cohort Study.

Background/objectives: Delivery by cesarean section (CS) compared to vaginal delivery has been associated with increased risk of overweight in childhood. Our study examined if the presence or absence of labor events in CS delivery altered risk of overweight in early childhood (1-5 years) compared to vaginal delivery and if this association differed according to infant sex.

Subjects/methods: The study included 3073 mother-infant pairs from the CHILD Cohort Study in Canada.

Maternal Iron and Vitamin D Status during the Second Trimester Is Associated with Third Trimester Depression Symptoms among Pregnant Participants in the APrON Cohort.

Background: The maternal status of multiple micronutrients during pregnancy and postpartum and their potential associations with maternal health outcomes are largely undescribed.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine associations between maternal iron and vitamin D status, individually and in combination, on depression symptoms in pregnant individuals.

Methods: The Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition cohort study included pregnant participants and their children from Calgary and Edmonton, Canada.

Perinatal and early life factors and asthma control among preschoolers: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

Background: Preventing poor childhood asthma control is crucial for short-term and long-term respiratory health. This study evaluated associations between perinatal and early-life factors and early childhood asthma control.

Methods: This retrospective study used administrative health data from mothers and children born 2010-2012 with a diagnosis of asthma before age 5 years, in Alberta, Canada.

Delayed gut microbiota maturation in the first year of life is a hallmark of pediatric allergic disease.

Allergic diseases affect millions of people worldwide. An increase in their prevalence has been associated with alterations in the gut microbiome, i.e.

Maternal Iron Status Is Dynamic Throughout Pregnancy and Might Predict Birth Outcomes in a Sex Dependent Manner: Results from the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) Cohort Study.

Background: Developmental responses to nutrient deprivation may differ by fetal sex. Despite this, relationships between maternal prenatal iron biomarkers and birth outcomes when stratifying by offspring sex are poorly described, especially in healthy cohorts.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine associations between maternal iron biomarkers and birth weights (BWs) and birth head circumferences (BHCs) among female and male newborns to assess whether the potential predictive ability of iron biomarkers on birth outcomes differs by offspring sex.

Impact of Cesarean Delivery and Breastfeeding on Secretory Immunoglobulin A in the Infant Gut Is Mediated by Gut Microbiota and Metabolites.

How gut immunity in early life is shaped by birth in relation to delivery mode, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) and labor remains undetermined. We aimed to address this gap with a study of secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in the infant gut that also tested SIgA-stimulating pathways mediated by gut microbiota and metabolites. Among 1017 Canadian full-term infants, gut microbiota of fecal samples collected at 3 and 12 months were profiled using 16S rRNA sequencing; was quantified by qPCR; fecal metabolites and SIgA levels were measured by NMR and SIgA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively.

Infant Vitamin D Supplements, Fecal Microbiota and Their Metabolites at 3 Months of Age in the CHILD Study Cohort.

Infant vitamin D liquid formulations often contain non-medicinal excipients such as glycerin (ie. glycerol) and 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PD). We examined whether infant vitamin D supplementation is associated with fecal glycerol and 1,2-PD concentrations at 3 months of age and characterized associations between these two molecules, and gut microbiota and their metabolites.

Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy.

The environment plays an instrumental role in the developmental origins of health and disease. Protective features of the environment in the development of asthma and atopy have been insufficiently studied. We used data from the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) Cohort Study to examine relationships between living near natural green spaces in early infancy in Edmonton, AB, Canada and the development of atopic sensitization at 1 year and 3 years of age in a cohort of 699 infants, and whether these associations were mediated by infant gut microbiota (measured using 16s V4 amplicon sequencing) at 4 months.

Breastfeeding enrichment of B. longum subsp. infantis mitigates the effect of antibiotics on the microbiota and childhood asthma risk.

Background: Early antibiotic exposure is linked to persistent disruption of the infant gut microbiome and subsequent elevated pediatric asthma risk. Breastfeeding acts as a primary modulator of the gut microbiome during early life, but its effect on asthma development has remained unclear.

Methods: We harnessed the CHILD cohort to interrogate the influence of breastfeeding on antibiotic-associated asthma risk in a subset of children (n = 2,521).

Sex-specific associations among infant food and atopic sensitizations and infant neurodevelopment.

Introduction: Food sensitization is a first and strong indicator of immune deviation in the progression to other allergic conditions. Sensitization to food or other allergens and related inflammation during critical windows of infant development may adversely affect neurodevelopmental milestones. However, additional research is needed to test this association further.

From Prescription Drugs to Natural Health Products: Medication Use in Canadian Infants.

Limited data exist on pharmaceutical product use by infants, although available data suggests higher prevalence of use among children under 12 months of age. We conducted a descriptive study of 3050 infants recruited in the CHILD Cohort Study, a prospective, multicenter, longitudinal cohort following children from pregnancy through childhood. Parents were surveyed for use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and natural health products (NHPs, including homeopathic products and vitamins) at 3, 6, and 12 months after delivery.

The maternal prenatal and offspring early-life gut microbiome of childhood asthma phenotypes.

Background: The infant fecal microbiome is known to impact subsequent asthma risk, but the environmental exposures impacting this association, the role of the maternal microbiome, and how the microbiome impacts different childhood asthma phenotypes are unknown.

Methods: Our objective was to identify associations between features of the prenatal and early-life fecal microbiomes and child asthma phenotypes. We analyzed fecal 16 s rRNA microbiome profiling and fecal metabolomic profiling from stool samples collected from mothers during the third trimester of pregnancy (n = 120) and offspring at ages 3-6 months (n = 265), 1 (n = 436) and 3 years (n = 506) in a total of 657 mother-child pairs participating in the Vitamin D Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial.

Moving beyond descriptive studies: harnessing metabolomics to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underpinning host-microbiome phenotypes.

Advances in technology and software have radically expanded the scope of metabolomics studies and allow us to monitor a broad transect of central carbon metabolism in routine studies. These increasingly sophisticated tools have shown that many human diseases are modulated by microbial metabolism. Despite this, it remains surprisingly difficult to move beyond these statistical associations and identify the specific molecular mechanisms that link dysbiosis to the progression of human disease.

Early Life Antimicrobial Exposure: Impact on Colonization in Infants.

The relationship between antibiotic use and () has been well established in adults and older children but remains unclear and is yet to be fully examined in infant populations. This study aimed to determine the separate and cumulative impact from antibiotics and household cleaning products on colonization in infants. This study included 1429 infants at 3-4 months of age and 1728 infants at 12 months of age from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) birth cohort.

The rise to power of the microbiome: power and sample size calculation for microbiome studies.

A priori power and sample size calculations are crucial to appropriately test null hypotheses and obtain valid conclusions from all clinical studies. Statistical tests to evaluate hypotheses in microbiome studies need to consider intrinsic features of microbiome datasets that do not apply to classic sample size calculation. In this review, we summarize statistical approaches to calculate sample sizes for typical microbiome study scenarios, including those that hypothesize microbiome features to be the outcome, the exposure or the mediator, and provide relevant R scripts to conduct some of these calculations.

Childhood body mass index and associations with infant gut metabolites and secretory IgA: findings from a prospective cohort study.

Background/objectives: Differences in gut microbiota, metabolites and immune markers have been observed between individuals with and without obesity. Our study determined the temporal association between infant fecal gut metabolites, sIgA and body mass index (BMI) z score of preschool children, independent of pre/postnatal factors.

Subjects/methods: The study includes a subset of 647 infants from the CHILD Cohort Study (recruited between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012).

Pathways of atopic disease and neurodevelopmental impairment: assessing the evidence for infant antibiotics.

Introduction: Epidemiologic studies are starting to report associations between antibiotic use in early life and neurodevelopmental disorders. Through mechanisms within the gut microbiota-brain axis, indeed, it is plausible that infant antibiotic treatment plays a role in the development of atopic disease and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Areas Covered: This narrative review summarizes and interprets published evidence on infant antibiotic use in future outcomes of atopic disease, and neurodevelopmental delay and disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Longitudinal body mass index trajectories at preschool age: children with rapid growth have differential composition of the gut microbiota in the first year of life.

Background/objective: The steep rise in childhood obesity has emerged as a worldwide public health problem. The first 4 years of life are a critical window where long-term developmental patterns of body mass index (BMI) are established and a critical period for microbiota maturation. Understanding how the early-life microbiota relate to preschool growth may be useful for identifying preventive interventions for childhood obesity.

Association between barrier impairment and skin microbiota in atopic dermatitis from a global perspective: Unmet needs and open questions.

Atopic diathesis encompassing atopic dermatitis (AD), allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and asthma is a widely prevalent condition with a broad heterogeneity in clinical course, age of onset, and lifespan persistence. A primary event in AD is the commonly inherited epidermal barrier dysfunction. Together with the host-microbiome interactions, barrier defect and allergen exposure modulate both innate and adaptive immunity, thus triggering and maintaining the inflammatory response.

Project Earthrise: Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference of VIVO Planetary Health.

The "Earthrise" photograph, taken on the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, became one of the most significant images of the 20th Century. It triggered a profound shift in environmental awareness and the potential for human unity-inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970. Taking inspiration from these events 50 years later, we initiated at our 2020 annual conference of VIVO Planetary Health.