A recent study (G Galazzo, N Van Best, et al. Gastroenterol 2020; 158: 1584-96) highlights the changes in microbiota diversity from birth until 11 years of age.
Methods: We collected 1453 stool samples, at 5, 13, 21, and 31 weeks postpartum (infants), and once at school age (6–11 years), from 440 children (49.3% girls, 24.8% born by cesarean delivery; all children except for 6 were breastfed for varying durations; median 40 weeks; interquartile range, 30–53 weeks).
Key findings:
- Most bacteria within the Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria phyla were already present at 5 weeks after birth, whereas many bacteria of the Firmicutes phylum were acquired at later times in infancy.
- At school age, many new Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes bacterial taxa emerged.
- The largest increase in microbial diversity occurred after 31 weeks of life.
- Vaginal, compared with cesarean delivery, was most strongly associated with an enrichment of Bacteroides species at 5 weeks through 31 weeks.
- From 13 weeks onward, diet became the most important determinant of microbiota composition; cessation of breastfeeding, rather than solid food introduction, was associated with changes.
- When we adjusted for confounding factors, we found fecal microbiota composition to be associated with development of atopic dermatitis, allergic sensitization, and asthma. Members of the Lachnospiraceae family, as well as the genera Faecalibacterium and Dialister, were associated with a reduced risk of atopy.
My take: We are still learning a lot about the microbiome. Though a ‘healthy’ microbiome is still not straight-forward determination, a good diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables has been associated with more favorable attributes.
Plus One: Bahar Javdan, et al. Personalized Mapping of Drug Metabolism by the Human Gut Microbiome. Cell, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.001
In this study, the authors found how variations in the microbiome had unique effects on drug metabolism. From ScienceDaily, Can gut microbiome alter drug safety and efficacy? The authors tested 575 FDA-approved drugs to see if they are chemically modified by one of the 21 cultured microbiomes, and then tested a subset of the drugs with all the cultured microbiomes. Here, they found microbiome-derived metabolites that had never been previously reported
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