The gut microbiome has an important role in evolution of the immune system and prevention of chronic diseases. Several factors influence early colonization of the infant`s gut, including exposure to antibiotics.
Objective: To assess the changes that take place in the infant gut microbiome and milk glycobiome when breastfeeding mothers consume antibiotics.
Methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort study of 17 mother infant pairs. Breast milk and infant fecal samples were collected at six different time points before, during and after maternal antibiotic treatment.
Results: No significant differences were observed in beta diversity (P=0.16). While overall no significant change in alpha diversity was observed, unexpectedly in about 50% of the cases an increase in alpha diversity was shown. A distinct increase in lactobacillus abundance post antibiotic treatment was observed in most infants (P<0.05). Higher levels of antibiotic in maternal breast milk appeared to be associated with increased levels of pathogenic bacteria in the infants’ gut. A decrease in milk glycobiome diversity after antibiotic treatment was observed.
Discussion: It is well known that antibiotic consumption influences the gut microbiome, mainly reducing both (alpha and beta) diversity. Much to our surprise, no significant changes were observed in our study as mentioned above. Several limitations could have influenced the results, as limited number of participants, external influences as probiotics and no control group.
Conclusion: Analysis of gut microbiome in infants whose mothers were prescribed antibiotics, showed distinct changes in composition following the exposure.
