Meta-analysis of effects of exclusive breastfeeding on infant gut microbiota across populations

Abstract

Previous studies on the differences in gut microbiota between exclusively breastfed (EBF) and non-EBF infants have provided highly variable results. Here we perform a meta-analysis of seven microbiome studies (1825 stool samples from 684 infants) to compare the gut microbiota of non-EBF and EBF infants across populations. In the first 6 months of life, gut bacterial diversity, microbiota age, relative abundances of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, and predicted microbial pathways related to carbohydrate metabolism are consistently higher in non-EBF than in EBF infants, whereas relative abundances of pathways related to lipid metabolism, vitamin metabolism, and detoxification are lower. Variation in predicted microbial pathways associated with non-EBF infants is larger among infants born by Caesarian section than among those vaginally delivered. Longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding is associated with reduced diarrhea-related gut microbiota dysbiosis. Furthermore, differences in gut microbiota between EBF and non-EBF infants persist after 6 months of age. Our findings elucidate some mechanisms of short and long-term benefits of exclusive breastfeeding across different populations.

You Are What You Eat—The Relationship between Diet, Microbiota, and Metabolic Disorders—A Review

“…Newborns fed with mother's breast milk have a higher abundance of beneficial bacteria species compared to formula-fed children. Breastfeeding is associated with favorable alteration of infant GM (high colonization with Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus and Bacteroides, low colonization with Clostridium, Escherichia), in addition to inhibiting colonization by potential pathogens (Escherichia coli, Helicobacter jejuni, Shigella, Vibrio cholera, Salmonella), as described in several previous studies [25][26][27]. In comparison, formula-fed infants are enriched in functions typical of the adult microbiota and have higher counts of Clostridia (C. paraputrificum, C. perfringens, C. clostridiiforme, C. difficile, and C. tertium), Streptococcus (S. bovis, S. faecalis, and S. faecium), and Proteobacteria (Enterobacter cloacae, Citrobacter spp., and Bilophila wadsworthia) than do breast-fed infants, and with delayed colonization by Bifidobacteria [22].…”

Contributions to human breast milk microbiome and enteromammary transfer of Bifidobacterium breve

“…The process of breast feeding plays a critical role in development of the infant gut microbiome. The initial seeding of the infant gut in the first few months of life is necessary for infant immune development and overall health(24–28) with breastfeeding exclusivity and percentage critically influencing the infant gut microbiome(19, 28). In our analysis, the breast milk and infant microbiomes are seeded through multiple pathways, though primarily from areolar skin and infant oral sites.…”

Annual Research Review: Critical windows – the microbiota–gut–brain axis in neurocognitive development

“…Certainly, the microbiota is known to convert food components that would otherwise be indigestible into products with nutritional or biological value (see Rowland et al, ; Sela & Mills, , for reviews on this topic, the latter in infants), and nutrition itself is a well‐established modulator of cognitive outcomes. Breastfeeding, a dietary factor that influences microbiota maturation (Ho et al, ), has long been purported to improve cognitive outcomes (Johnstone et al, ), although more recent data indicate that this effect is largely accounted for by confounding variables such as maternal intelligence or education levels (Walfisch et al, ). On the other hand, both specific nutrient deficiencies and low overall diet quality are associated with negative long‐term impacts on cognitive development (Freeman et al, ; Tandon et al, ), and nutritional interventions in vulnerable populations have been shown to improve cognitive outcomes during childhood (e.g., Freeman et al, ; Isaacs et al, ; Lucas et al, ).…”