Congratulations to our Platform 2 Lead Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj on this recent publication!
This recent study from Dr. Kozyrskyj’s team and colleagues highlights how birth factors from the CHILD study cohort (@CHILDSTUDY) correlate to changes in the gut microbes of infants to “determine the pathways by which these alterations may lead to an increased risk of allergies & obesity later in childhood.” Using SEM path analysis, they tested directional relationships between first pregnancy, birth mode, prolonged labour and breastfeeding; infant gut microbiota, metabolites and Immunoglobulin A; and childhood BMI and atopy in 1667 infants.
Read More in the press release and paper.
Abstract
Few studies, even those with cohort designs, test the mediating effects of infant gut microbes and metabolites on the onset of disease. We undertook such a study. Methods: Using structural equation modeling path analysis, we tested directional relationships between first pregnancy, birth mode, prolonged labor and breastfeeding; infant gut microbiota, metabolites, and IgA; and childhood body mass index and atopy in 1667 infants.
After both cesarean birth and prolonged labor with a first pregnancy, a higher Enterobacteriaceae/Bacteroidaceae ratio at 3 months was the dominant path to overweight; higher Enterobacteriaceae/Bacteroidaceae ratios and Clostridioides difficile colonization at 12 months were the main pathway to atopic sensitization. Depletion of Bifidobacterium after prolonged labor was a secondary pathway to overweight. Influenced by C difficile colonization at 3 months, metabolites propionate and formate were secondary pathways to child outcomes, with a key finding that formate was at the intersection of several paths.
Pathways from cesarean section and first pregnancy to child overweight and atopy share many common mediators of the infant gut microbiome, notably C difficile colonization.
Publication: From birth to overweight and atopic disease: multiple and common pathways of the infant gut microbiome. Vu K, Lou W, Tun HM, Konya TB, Morales-Lizcano N, Chari RS, Field CJ, Guttman SD, Mandal R, Wishart DS, Azad MB, Becker AB, Mandane PJ, Moraes TJ, Lefebvre DL, Sears MR, Turvey SE, Subbarao P, Scott JA, Kozyrskyj AL. Gastroenterology. 16 September 2020.
