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bioRxiv · 10.1101/292755

Effects of exclusive breastfeeding on infant gut microbiota: a meta-analysis across studies and populations

Ho, N. T.·Li, F.·Lee-Sarwar, K. A.·Tun, H. M.·Brown, B.·Pannaraj, P. S.·Wood, L. F.·Bender, J. M.·Sordillo, J. E.·Azad, M. B.·Thompson, A. L.·Weiss, S. T.·Azcarate-Peril, M. A.·Litonjua, A. A.·Kozyrskyj, A. L.·Jaspan, H. B.·Aldrovandi, G. M.·Kuhn, L.
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Abstract

Literature regarding the differences in gut microbiota between exclusively breastfed (EBF) and non-EBF infants is meager with large variation in methods and results. We performed a meta-analysis of seven studies (a total of 1825 stool samples from 684 infants) to investigate effects of EBF compared to non-EBF on infant gut microbiota across different populations. In the first 6 months of life, overall bacterial diversity, gut microbiota age, relative abundances of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes and microbial-predicted pathways related to carbohydrate metabolism were consistently increased; while relative abundances of pathways related to lipid, vitamin metabolism and detoxification were decreased in non-EBF vs. EBF infants. The perturbation in microbial-predicted pathways associated with non-EBF was larger in infants delivered by C-section than delivered vaginally. Longer duration of EBF mitigated diarrhea-associated gut microbiota dysbiosis and the effects of EBF persisted after 6 months of age. These consistent findings across vastly different populations suggest that one of the mechanisms of short and long-term benefits of EBF may be alteration in gut microbes.

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Ho, N. T., Li, F., Lee-Sarwar, K. A., Tun, H. M., Brown, B., Pannaraj, P. S., Wood, L. F., Bender, J. M., Sordillo, J. E., Azad, M. B., Thompson, A. L., Weiss, S. T., Azcarate-Peril, M. A., Litonjua, A. A., Kozyrskyj, A. L., Jaspan, H. B., Aldrovandi, G. M., Kuhn, L.. 2018-03-31. Effects of exclusive breastfeeding on infant gut microbiota: a meta-analysis across studies and populations. https://doi.org/10.1101/292755

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