Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.  2016 Sep;8(5):471-477. 10.4168/aair.2016.8.5.471.

Dynamics of Gut Microbiota According to the Delivery Mode in Healthy Korean Infants

• Lee E
• Kim BJ
• Kang MJ
• Choi KY
• Cho HJ
• Kim Y
• Yang SI
• Jung YH
• Kim HY
• Seo JH
• Kwon JW
• Kim HB
• Lee SY
• Hong SJ

• KMID: 2295158
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aair.2016.8.5.471

Abstract

Microbial colonization of the infant gut is unstable and shows a wide range of diversity between individuals. Gut microbiota play an important role in the development of the immune system, and an imbalance in these organisms can affect health, including an increased risk of allergic diseases. Microbial colonization of young infants is affected by the delivery mode at birth and the consequent alterations of gut microbiota in early life affect the development of allergic diseases. We investigated the effects of the delivery mode on the temporal dynamics of gut microbiota in healthy Korean infants. Fecal samples were collected at 1-3 days, 1 month, and 6 months after birth in six healthy infants. Microbiota were characterized by 16S rRNA shotgun sequencing. At the first and third days of life, infants born by vaginal delivery showed a higher richness and diversity of gut microbiota compared with those born by cesarean section. However, these differences disappeared with age. The Bacteroides genus and Bacteroidetes phylum were abundant in infants born by vaginal delivery, whereas Bacilli and Clostridium g4 were increased in infants born by cesarean section. The Firmicutes phylum and Bacteroides genus showed convergent dynamics with age. This study demonstrated the effect of delivery mode on the dynamics of gut microbiota profiles in healthy Korean infants.

Keyword

Delivery mode; gut; microbiota

MeSH Terms

Bacteroides
Bacteroidetes
Cesarean Section
Clostridium
Colon
Female
Firmicutes
Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
Humans
Immune System
Infant*
Microbiota
Parturition
Pregnancy

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Comparisons of the (A) Chao1 and (B) Shannon diversity index of the gut microbiota according to age between infants born by vaginal delivery and those born by cesarean delivery.

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  Fig. 2 Relative abundance of bacterial 16S rRNA genes from fecal samples of the three vaginally delivered and 3 cesarean delivered infants at the phylum (A) and class (B) level by age. Each column represents 1 infant, as described in Table 1. CD, cesarean section delivery; VD, vaginal delivery.

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  Fig. 3 Microbiota composition at 1st-3rd day of life, 1 month, and 6 months of age in vaginally delivered infants (A) and those born by caesarean section (B).

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  Fig. 4 Temporal patterns of convergent gut microbiota including (A) Firmicutes phylum and (B) Bacteroides genus.

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