Accumulating evidence suggests that manipulating the microbiota with the use of probiotics at an early stage may lead to appropriate microbial colonisation and could have long-lasting impacts on child and adult health.
Probiotic intervention is receiving significant attention as a noninvasive attempt to optimize the infant microbiota to improve health or prevent disease.
Initial neonatal gut microbial colonisation represents an opportunity to shape a healthy gastrointestinal tract and immune system and positively modulate gut microbiota. A number of extrinsic factors, such as gestational age, delivery mode, and feeding types, affect the process of microbial colonization in newborns.
Bifidobacterium breve is a bacterial species found in the human intestine. It is especially relevant in early life, being one of the most abundant bacteria in the newborn gut. It belongs to the genus Bifidobacterium and is considered key in the development of a healthy gut.
Some of the benefits associated with this species include protection against pathogens, modulation of the immune system, and provision of nutrients through the breakdown of non-digestible carbohydrates from the diet.
A new study carried out by MicrobeMom has shown that Bifidobacterium strains, including Bifidobacterium breve M-16V, are transferred from mother to infant. One of the key factors influencing the outcome was vaginal birth, so these bacteria are likely passed on during childbirth.
This research also showed that B. breve was the most frequently isolated of the Bifidobacterium species. It was present in vaginal samples from the mother, stool samples from the infant and the mother, as well as breast milk. In fact, B. breve represented 80% of the total Bifidobacterium isolated from breast milk.
Breast milk is one of the main factors that influences the infant microbiota. Breastfeeding increases the number of Bifidobacterium in the infant’s gut.
Human milk oligosaccharides are the most abundant carbohydrates present in breast milk after lactose. They are considered prebiotic indigestible in the human gut, and as such, they strongly affect the composition of the infant microbiome. B. breve in returns helps to break down certain carbohydrates present in breast milk.
This review of in vitro animal and clinical studies favours the use of Bifidobacterium breve M-16V as a worthy and suitable infant probiotic in early life for promoting healthy gut microbial colonization and maturation in premature infants and preventing the development of necrotizing enterocolitis and allergic diseases.
Feehily, C., O’Neill, I.J., Walsh, C.J. et al. Detailed mapping of Bifidobacterium strain transmission from mother to infant via a dual culture-based and metagenomic approach. Nat Commun 14, 3015 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38694-0
