Exclusive breast-feeding, the early-life microbiome and immune response, and common childhood respiratory illnesses.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The impact of breast-feeding on certain childhood respiratory illnesses remains controversial.

Objective

We sought to examine the effect of exclusive breast-feeding on the early-life upper respiratory tract (URT) and gut microbiome, the URT immune response in infancy, and the risk of common pediatric respiratory diseases.

Methods

We analyzed data from a birth cohort of healthy infants with prospective ascertainment of breast-feeding patterns and common pediatric pulmonary and atopic outcomes. In a subset of infants, we also characterized the URT and gut microbiome using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and measured 9 URT cytokines using magnetic bead-based assays.

Results

Of the 1949 infants enrolled, 1495 (76.71%) had 4-year data. In adjusted analyses,

SUBMITTER: Rosas-Salazar C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9463089 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature