The role of early life factors and green living environment in the development of gut microbiota in infancy: Population-based cohort study.

Objective: Early life microbial exposure influences the composition of gut microbiota. We investigated how early life factors, and the green living environment around infants' homes, influence the development of gut microbiota during infancy by utilizing data from the Steps to Healthy Development follow-up study (the STEPS study).

Methods: The gut microbiota was analyzed at early (∼3 months, n = 959), and late infancy (∼13 months, n = 984) using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, and combined with residential green environment, measured as (1) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, (2) Vegetation Cover Diversity, and (3) Naturalness Index within a 750 m radius.

Neonatal and early infancy antibiotic exposure is associated with childhood atopic dermatitis, wheeze and asthma.

Antibiotics are frequently administered in the neonatal period and early infancy. Little is known about the long-term health consequences of early life antibiotic exposure. The objective is to investigate the association between neonatal and early life (0-6 months) antibiotic treatment and the development of atopic dermatitis, asthma and the use of inhaled corticosteroid medication later in childhood.

A gut reaction? The role of the microbiome in aggression.

Recent research has unveiled conflicting evidence regarding the link between aggression and the gut microbiome. Here, we compared behavior profiles of control, germ-free (GF), and antibiotic-treated mice, as well as re-colonized GF mice to understand the impact of the gut microbiome on aggression using the resident-intruder paradigm. Our findings revealed a link between gut microbiome depletion and higher aggression, accompanied by notable changes in urine metabolite profiles and brain gene expression.

The Role of Infant Gut Microbiota Modulation by Perinatal Maternal Probiotic Intervention in Atopic Eczema Risk Reduction.

Introduction: Probiotics have shown potential in reducing the occurrence of atopic eczema in high-risk infants. We aimed here to assess whether the preventive effect of maternal probiotic administration stems from compositional changes in early gut microbiota.

Methods: This study included 46 mother-infant pairs from an original randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of maternal probiotic intervention with either the combinations of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus LPR and Bifidobacterium longum BL999, or Lacticaseibacillus paracasei ST11 and Bifidobacterium longum BL999, or placebo beginning 2 months before expected delivery and ending 2 months after birth.

Reversible aberrancies in gut microbiome of moderate and late preterm infants: results from a randomized, controlled trial.

The aim of this study was to obtain insight into the composition and function of the deviant gut microbiome throughout infancy in children born moderately and late preterm and their response to microbiome modulation. We characterized the longitudinal development of the gut microbiome from birth to the age of 12 months by metagenomic sequencing in 43 moderate and late preterm children participating in a randomized, controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov/no.

Shifting pattern of gut microbiota in pregnant women two decades apart - an observational study.

Background: Past decades have witnessed a decrease in environmental biodiversity. We hypothesized a similar decrease in indigenous gut microbiota diversity, which may have contributed to the obesity epidemic.

Objective: To investigate the changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiota in pregnant women over a period of 20 years.

The preterm gut microbiota and administration routes of different probiotics: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Preterm children with their aberrant gut microbiota and susceptibility to infections and inflammation constitute a considerable target group for probiotic therapy to generate the age-appropriate healthy microbiota.

Methods: 68 preterm neonates were randomized into five intervention groups: Beginning from the median age of 3 days, 13 children received Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) directly orally, and 17 via the lactating mother. 14 children received LGG with Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12 (Bb12) orally, and 10 via the lactating mother.

Gestational diabetes is driven by microbiota-induced inflammation months before diagnosis.

Objective: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition in which women without diabetes are diagnosed with glucose intolerance during pregnancy, typically in the second or third trimester. Early diagnosis, along with a better understanding of its pathophysiology during the first trimester of pregnancy, may be effective in reducing incidence and associated short-term and long-term morbidities.

Design: We comprehensively profiled the gut microbiome, metabolome, inflammatory cytokines, nutrition and clinical records of 394 women during the first trimester of pregnancy, before GDM diagnosis.

Residential green environments are associated with human milk oligosaccharide diversity and composition.

Increased exposure to greener environments has been suggested to lead to health benefits in children, but the associated mechanisms in early life, particularly via biological mediators such as altered maternal milk composition, remain largely unexplored. We investigated the associations between properties of the mother's residential green environment, measured as (1) greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation index, NDVI), (2) Vegetation Cover Diversity (VCDI) and (3) Naturalness Index (NI), and human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), known for their immune- and microbiota-related health effects on the infant (N = 795 mothers). We show that HMO diversity increases and concentrations of several individual HMOs and HMO groups change with increased VCDI and NI in residential green environments.

Feeding the preterm infant gut microbiota.

How nutritional management of very preterm neonates impacts microbiota development and clinical outcomes remains incompletely understood. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Asbury et al. present a randomized controlled trial assessing the microbiota of very preterm infants fed human milk supplemented with human milk or cow's milk-based fortification.

Early life exposures and development of allergic disease in infants with familial risk: Results from ongoing probiotic intervention trials.

Aim: We search revision of risk determinants of the ongoing allergy epidemic.

Methods: Children numbering 433 born to mothers with allergic disease or sensitisation were selected from the three ongoing probiotic intervention trials for this case-control study. Children who developed atopic eczema or food allergy, had positive skinprick test results or had been prescribed inhaled corticosteroids by the age of 2 years were identified as cases (n = 231), while children without allergic manifestations were the healthy controls (n = 202).

Neighborhood Disadvantage, Greenness, and Population Density as Predictors of Breastfeeding Practices: A Population Cohort Study from Finland.

Background: Many environmental factors are known to hinder breastfeeding, yet the role of the family living environment in this regard is still poorly understood.

Objectives: We used data from a large cohort to identify associations between neighborhood characteristics and breastfeeding behavior.

Methods: Our observational study included 11,038 children (0-2 years) from the Southwest Finland Birth Cohort.

Preterm infant meconium microbiota transplant induces growth failure, inflammatory activation, and metabolic disturbances in germ-free mice.

Preterm birth may result in adverse health outcomes. Very preterm infants typically exhibit postnatal growth restriction, metabolic disturbances, and exaggerated inflammatory responses. We investigated the differences in the meconium microbiota composition between very preterm (<32 weeks), moderately preterm (32-37 weeks), and term (>37 weeks) human neonates by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Maternal Intrapartum Antibiotic Treatment and Gut Microbiota Development in Healthy Term Infants.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of intrapartum antibiotic treatment (IAT) on the compositional development of gut microbiota in healthy term infants.

Study Design: A case-control study of 24 infants exposed to and 24 matched infants not exposed to IAT was conducted. All subjects were born by vaginal delivery at term and breastfed.

Factors influencing the microbial composition of human milk.

Aside from nutritional components, human milk is rich in microorganisms. Through breastfeeding these microorganisms are introduced to the infant gut where they may transiently or persistently colonize it. Therefore, the human milk microbiota may be an important factor which shapes the infant gut microbiota further influencing infant health and disease.

Early-life formula feeding is associated with infant gut microbiota alterations and an increased antibiotic resistance load.

Background: Infants are at a high risk of acquiring fatal infections, and their treatment relies on functioning antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are present in high numbers in antibiotic-naive infants' gut microbiomes, and infant mortality caused by resistant infections is high. The role of antibiotics in shaping the infant resistome has been studied, but there is limited knowledge on other factors that affect the antibiotic resistance burden of the infant gut.

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Childhood Body Mass Index Trajectories From Birth to 7 Years of Age.

Background: The epidemic of increasing childhood overweight and obesity is a major global health concern, with local contextual factors identified as possible contributors. Robust research is needed to establish an evidence base supporting health policy decisions to reverse the trend. We aimed to examine the association between neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and trajectories of body mass index (BMI) from birth to age 7.

Spontaneous preterm delivery is reflected in both early neonatal and maternal gut microbiota.

Background: Aberrant gut microbiota composition in preterm neonates is linked to adverse health consequences. Little is known about the impact of perinatal factors or maternal gut microbiota on initial preterm gut colonization.

Methods: Fecal samples were collected from 55 preterm neonates (<35 gestational weeks), 51 mothers, and 25 full-term neonates during the first 3-4 postpartum days.

HPV infection and bacterial microbiota in the semen from healthy men.

Background: Aberrant microbiota composition has been linked to disease development at numerous anatomical sites. Microbiota changes in reaction to viral infections, such as human papillomavirus (HPV), have been investigated almost exclusively in the female reproductive tract. However, HPV infection may also affect male health by reducing semen quality and fertility.

Neonatal antibiotic exposure impairs child growth during the first six years of life by perturbing intestinal microbial colonization.

Exposure to antibiotics in the first days of life is thought to affect various physiological aspects of neonatal development. Here, we investigate the long-term impact of antibiotic treatment in the neonatal period and early childhood on child growth in an unselected birth cohort of 12,422 children born at full term. We find significant attenuation of weight and height gain during the first 6 years of life after neonatal antibiotic exposure in boys, but not in girls, after adjusting for potential confounders.

The Microbiota of the Human Mammary Ecosystem.

Human milk contains a dynamic and complex site-specific microbiome, which is not assembled in an aleatory way, formed by organized microbial consortia and networks. Presence of some genera, such as (formerly known as ), , and , has been detected by both culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. DNA from some gut-associated strict anaerobes has also been repeatedly found and some studies have revealed the presence of cells and/or nucleic acids from viruses, archaea, fungi and protozoa in human milk.

Growth Factor Concentrations in Human Milk Are Associated With Infant Weight and BMI From Birth to 5 Years.

Human milk bioactives may play a role in infant health and development. Although the variability in their concentrations in milk is well-established, the impact of differential milk profiles on infant growth outcomes remains unclear. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether different concentrations of metabolic hormones are associated with different weight and BMI in infants beyond the first year of life.

Milk Microbiome and Neonatal Colonization: Overview.

Breastfeeding confers the infant short- and long-term health benefits and significantly modulates the developing infant gut microbiome. A specific human milk microbiome has relatively recently been discovered, but its origin remains poorly understood. Data from experimental and clinical studies suggest that the bacteria in milk may originate in the maternal gut and be transported via a specific enteromammary pathway, the details of which have not been elucidated yet.

Associations between human milk oligosaccharides and growth in infancy and early childhood.

Background: Breastfeeding modulates infant growth and protects against the development of obesity. However, whether or not maternal variation in human milk components, such as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), is associated with programming of child growth remains unknown.

Objective: Our objective was to determine the association between maternal HMO composition and child growth during the first 5 y of life.

The Effect of Donor Human Milk Fortification on The Adhesion of Probiotics In Vitro.

Preterm delivery complications are the primary cause of death among children under the age of five. Preventive strategies include the use of pasteurized donor human milk (DHM), its fortification with human milk fortifiers (protein supplements), and supplementation with probiotics. Our aim was to examine the impact of DHM and fortified DHM (FDHM) on the mucus adhesion properties of two widely used probiotics.