Mother-to-infant transmission of intestinal bifidobacterial strains has an impact on the early development of vaginally delivered infant's microbiota.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Bifidobacterium species are one of the major components of the infant's intestine microbiota. Colonization with bifidobacteria in early infancy is suggested to be important for health in later life. However, information remains limited regarding the source of these microbes. Here, we investigated whether specific strains of bifidobacteria in the maternal intestinal flora are transmitted to their infant's intestine.

Materials and methods

Fecal samples were collected from healthy 17 mother and infant pairs (Vaginal delivery: 12; Cesarean section delivery: 5). Mother's feces were collected twice before delivery. Infant's feces were collected at 0 (meconium), 3, 7, 30, 90 days after birth. Bifidobacteria isolated from feces were genotyped by multilocus sequencing typi

SUBMITTER: Makino H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3828338 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature