Gut Bacteria Mapping from Mother to Child

Researchers have completed the most comprehensive study of mother-to-infant transmission of common gut bacteria to date. The study demonstrates the efficient transfer of the gut bacteria Bifidobacterium, which is an important component of health from infancy to adulthood.

Researchers from APC Microbiome Ireland, a world-leading SFI research center based in University College Cork (UCC), PrecisionBiotics Group, the UCD Perinatal Research Center, University College Dublin, and the National Institute for Bioprocessing, Research & Training (NIBRT), are leading the MicrobeMom joint research project.

According to the MicrobeMom study, maternal-to-infant transmission of gut bacteria is a widespread phenomena that is greatly impacted by extrinsic factors such as style of delivery and antibiotic exposure during labor. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

Researchers discovered that Bifdobacterium—a probiotic or beneficial bacteria—is present in the newborn gut from birth and has a variety of health and functional benefits, including lowering the development of allergies and asthma. The discoveries could pave the way for the development of customized probiotic supplements based on these bacteria, with potential benefits such as immune system boosts, increased microbial infection resistance, disease prevention, and digestion aid.

The study discovered that the manner of delivery is an important determinant in effective strain transmission, with increased microbial diversity reported in vaginal births and the highest transfer rates associated with spontaneous labor. Antibiotic exposure during labor considerably reduced the number of strains transferred.

MicrobeMom began in 2017 to explore the most likely mechanisms of bifidobacteria strain transfer from mother to baby, as well as the impact of the mother’s food and health on her gut bacteria.

An earlier study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology MFM, revealed the possibility of investigating maternal supplementation to favorably impact and promote gut health and urged for more research.

Professor Paul Cotter, Principal Investigator at APC, said, “The low level of strain transfer detected in our initial study highlights that strain transfer can be used as a means of getting probiotic strains to the guts of infants through their administration to mothers. While the particular strain (Bifidobacterium breve 702258) did not transfer very efficiently, it did provide very valuable ‘proof of concept data’ prompting us to further explore the possibility of beneficial supplement intervention during pregnancy and transfer to the child.”

Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe, UCD full academic professor of obstetrics and gynecology at National Maternity Hospital Dublin and Director of the UCD Perinatal Research Center, said, “This is significant and exciting research. By using our combined approach of metagenomic sequencing with culture and whole genome sequencing, our study has provided the most in-depth investigation to date of the transmission of Bifidobacterium from mother to infant. We have identified key clinical factors associated with beneficial transfer of Bifidobacterium from mother to baby such as spontaneous vaginal birth.”

Professor Douwe van Sinderen, principal investigator at APC, commented, “This is a fascinating and highly collaborative project involving a number of institutions from academia, medicine and industry. Our research shows that maternal-to-infant transmission is a common phenomenon and established that many bifidobacteria naturally present in mothers transferred from mom to baby very effectively and transmission is strongly influenced by external factors including mode of delivery and antibiotics. This will benefit from further research and may point to a role for probiotic supplements during pregnancy, for targeted infant microbiome and health benefits.

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