Development of intestinal bacterial enzymes in infants ‐ relationship to mode of delivery and type of feeding

Abstract

To evaluate the development of intestinal flora in young infants, and especially to estimate the influence of mode of delivery and type of feeding on the establishment of intestinal microflora, faecal flora was studied indirectly by measuring prospectively the faecal bacterial enzyme activities (β‐glucosidase, β‐glucuronidase and urease) in 29 full‐term, healthy infants during the first 6 months of life. Mode of delivery had no influence on the faecal enzyme activities. In contrast, infants receiving formula feeds were more often urease positive at 1–2 months of age (70%vs 25%, p=0.043) and had higher median activity of β‐glucuronidase at 6 months of age (0.90 and 0.19 nmoles/mg protein × min, p=0.0043) than exclusively breast‐fed infants. Through indirect methods to measure the development of a faecal microflora our results indicate that the type of milk that infants receive during the first months of life may have an important role in the development of intestinal flora.

Relationships between inflammatory bowel disease and perinatal factors: Both maternal and paternal disease are related to preterm birth of offspring

“…Although type of feeding, 14 perinatal infections, 10 and infection in early infancy 11 are potential confounding factors for the association between mode of delivery and development of IBD later in life, the rate of cesarean section was surprisingly low in IBD patients compared to the corresponding controls.…”

“…Several factors like feeding, 14 infection in early life, 37 antibiotic therapy, 38 and mode of delivery 39 influence and change the intestinal flora. One might hypothesize that changes in intestinal flora early in life might be associated with development of IBD, because we know that the interaction between host susceptibility, mucosal immunity, and the intestinal flora are important factors in the pathogenesis of IBD.…”

“…13,14 Cesarean section delays the intestinal colonization and also changes the microflora in the newborn for several months, 15 which might give rise to permanent shifts in microbial composition, which in turn might interact with the mucosal immune system.…”

The Gut Microbiota and its Contribution to Homeostasis

“…These include mode of delivery, i.e. vaginally or cesarean, whether the baby was born preterm of full -term, and whether the infant is formula or breast -fed [29,34] . While experiments with humans have not strongly supported a kinship effect with regard to the structure of the bacterial community of the intestinal microbiota, a strong correlation was observed using 16S rDNA sequencing of cecal samples of 25 related and unrelated inbred mice, suggesting that environmental and genetic factors shape the microbial composition [29] .…”

Flora intestinal, probióticos, prebióticos, simbióticos y alimentos novedosos

“…Los probióticos también son importantes para la maduración de la inmunidad humoral en la primera infancia (54,55). Son útiles para tratar y prevenir la diarrea infecciosa aguda de lactantes y niños (56); esto se ha observado en ensayos aleatorizados, doble ciego y controlados con placebo (57,58).…”