You are on page 1of 9

development of lactic

acid bacteria and


bifidobacteria
microbiota in breast
milk and the infant gut
Solis, G. et al
Background
There is increasing evidence that introduction of intestinal microbes have
an impact on health and predispositions to disease later in life
Early colonization begins with anaerobes such as enterobacteria,
lactobacilli, and Bifidobacterium
Breast milk is known for promoting good health in infants and recently
the presence of lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria in milk has been
considered as a possible link
Breast-fed and formula-fed infants microbiota differ greatly, especially in
the number and species composition of bifidobacteria
The genus Bifidobacterium has a predominant role in healthy infant guts
Not much is known about the relationship between breast milk and the
establishment of lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria in infant gut
colonization
Is there a relationship between the bacteria found in
breast milk and the bacteria found in the infant gut?

Hypothesis: Breast milk contains lactobacilli


and bifidobacteria that help establish the
initial colonization of the infant gut.
Methods
20 mother-infant pairs were selected from a hospital in Gijon, Spain
The infants were vaginally delivered to full-term and breast fed. 11 males
and 9 females.
Breast milk and infant fecal samples were collected at 1,10, 30,
and 90 days of age
None of the mothers or babies were given antibiotics during the
sampling period, but five mothers were given a single course of
ampicillin pre-partum
Samples were serially diluted to determine concentrations of LAB
and bifidobacteria
Species identification from the different colonies was done by
sequencing the 16S rRNA gene
Bacterial counts
increased from day 1
to day 10 in the infant
feces samples.
Bacterial counts
decreased in the
breast milk samples
throughout the study.
There was no
statistically significant
difference in the infant
feces bacteria count
between the mothers
that took antibiotics
On days 10, 30, and 90 bifidobacteria were the most
frequently found microorganisms in fecal samples

Bifidobacteria made up to 42-59% of isolates, followed


by Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Enterococcus as
the next most common bacteria in the fecal samples
The main bifidobacteria found were B. longum, B. breve,
B. bifidum, and B. pseudocatenulatum
Streptococcus salivarius, a lactic acid bacterium, made
up 36-65% of the isolates in the breast milk samples
throughout the study
A small amount of B. breve and B. longum were isolated
from breast milk samples
Summary
The establishment of gut microbiota has an impact on
health in early and later stages of life
Breast-fed infants tend to have similar gut microbe
compositions consisting of mostly bifidobacteria
Bifidobacteria are seen in high amounts in infant fecal
samples while lactic acid bacteria are more common in
breast milk samples
Conclusion
The relationship between breast feeding and
establishment of infant gut microbiota is still unclear
Future studies can examine how other components of
milk may affect the microbiota of infants
Learning more about milk and the microbiome may
allow researchers and manufactures to develop higher
quality infant formulas

You might also like