Childhood antibiotic use can impair gut health, says study
The research team also found that antibiotic treatment significantly diminished diversity of bacterial species immediately following birth. Diversity then recovered during the first year of life to resemble that of infants not exposed to antibiotics. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- In the study, “Antibiotics, birth mode, and diet shape microbiome maturation during early life”, researchers assessed the effects of modern practices on the development of intestinal microbiota.
- They found that, compared to vaginally-born infants, those delivered by C-section showed significantly greater species diversity in the weeks after birth. However, these measures declined in Cesarean-born infants during their first month, after which they displayed lower diversity up to two years of age.
- The change in birth mode interrupted the natural interplay between diversity and dominance, says senior author Martin Blaser.
BIRTH BY caesarean section (C-section), exposure to antibiotics, and formula feeding slow the development and decrease the diversity of a baby’s microbes through the first year of life, a study led by researchers from the New York University Langone Medical Center in the US has found, the institution said in a press release.
In the study, “Antibiotics, birth mode, and diet shape microbiome maturation during early life”, researchers assessed the effects of modern practices on the development of intestinal microbiota – the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space – in 43 children in New York and found multiple changes in the gut microbiomes of the babies based on delivery mode, exposure to antibiotics, and feeding method.
They found that, compared to vaginally-born infants, those delivered by C-section showed significantly greater species diversity in the weeks after birth. However, these measures declined in Cesarean-born infants during their first month, after which they displayed lower diversity up to two years of age. The change in birth mode interrupted the natural interplay between diversity and dominance, says senior author Martin Blaser.
The research team also found that antibiotic treatment significantly diminished diversity of bacterial species immediately following birth. Diversity then recovered during the first year of life to resemble that of infants not exposed to antibiotics. Species diversity was decreased in formula-fed children as well during the second year of life.
The team found that microbiota maturation stagnated in C-section-delivered infants between six months and two years of age. Similarly, children exposed to antibiotics showed delayed microbiota maturation compared to those not exposed, as did children fed by formula instead of breast milk, but during the second year of life. In total, each of these practices affected the maturation and succession of the microbiota.
The paper was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on June 15.
