Breastfeeding restored the gut microbiota in caesarean section infants and lowered the infection risk in early life.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The initialization of the neonatal gut microbiota (GM) is affected by diverse factors and is associated with infant development and health outcomes.

Methods

In this study, we collected 207 faecal samples from 41 infants at 6 time points (1, 3, and 7 days and 1, 3, and 6 months after birth). The infants were assigned to four groups according to delivery mode (caesarean section (CS) or vaginal delivery (VD)) and feeding pattern (breastfeeding or formula milk).

Results

The meconium bacterial diversity was slightly higher in CS than in VD. Three GM patterns were identified, including Escherichia/Shigella-Streptococcus-dominated, Bifidobacterium-Escherichia/Shigella-dominated and Bifidobacterium-dominated patterns, and they gradually changed over time. In CS inf

SUBMITTER: Guo C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7690020 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature