Human Milk From Atopic Mothers Has Lower Levels of Short Chain Fatty Acids.

Short chain fatty acids (SFCAs) are microbial metabolites produced in the gut upon fermentation of dietary fiber. These metabolites interact with the host immune system and can elicit epigenetic effects. There is evidence to suggest that SCFAs may play a role in the developmental programming of immune disorders and obesity, though evidence in humans remains sparse.

Maternal psychological distress before birth influences gut immunity in mid-infancy.

Background: Maternal pre-postnatal psychosocial distress increases the risk for childhood allergic disease. This may occur through a host immunity pathway that involves intestinal secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA). Experimental animal models show changes in the gut microbiome and immunity of offspring when exposed to direct or prenatal maternal stress, but little is known in humans.

Worldwide Variation in Human Milk Metabolome: Indicators of Breast Physiology and Maternal Lifestyle?

Human milk provides essential substrates for the optimal growth and development of a breastfed infant. Besides providing nutrients to the infant, human milk also contains metabolites which form an intricate system between maternal lifestyle, such as the mother's diet and the gut microbiome, and infant outcomes. This study investigates the variation of these human milk metabolites from five different countries.

Sex-specific impact of asthma during pregnancy on infant gut microbiota.

Asthma during pregnancy is associated with retardation of fetal growth in a sex-specific manner. Lactobacilli microbes influence infant growth. This study aimed to determine whether lactobacilli and other microbes are reduced in the gut of infants born to an asthmatic mother, and whether this differs by the sex of the infant.

Maternal depressive symptoms linked to reduced fecal Immunoglobulin A concentrations in infants.

Secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) plays a critical role to infant gut mucosal immunity. Delayed IgA production is associated with greater risk of allergic disease. Murine models of stressful events during pregnancy and infancy show alterations in gut immunity and microbial composition in offspring, but little is known about the stress-microbiome-immunity pathways in humans.

Microbial programming of health and disease starts during fetal life.

The pioneer microbiota of the neonatal gut are essential for gut maturation, and metabolic and immunologic programming. Recent research has shown that early bacterial colonization may impact the occurrence of disease later in life (microbial programming). Despite early conflicting evidence, it has long been considered that the womb is a sterile environment and human microbial colonization begins at birth.

The infant gut microbiome: evidence for obesity risk and dietary intervention.

Increasing globally, particularly in children, obesity is a serious public health issue and risk factor for overweight and metabolic disease in later life. Both in experimental animal and human studies, advances in gene sequencing technologies have yielded intriguing possibilities for the role of the gut microbiome in later development of overweight status. Before translating study findings into practice, we must first reconcile inconsistencies between animal experimentation, and human adult and infant studies.

Inulin and fructo-oligosaccharides have divergent effects on colitis and commensal microbiota in HLA-B27 transgenic rats.

Modulation of intestinal microbiota by non-digestible carbohydrates may reduce inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of inulin and fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on intestinal microbiota and colitis in HLA-B27 transgenic rats, a well-validated rodent model for IBD. In this study, 4-week-old rats were fed 8 g/kg body weight inulin or FOS for 12 weeks, or not.