Milk shake from chair improves the microbiome of caesarean section babies
Milk shake from chair improves the microbiome of caesarean section babies
A current clinical study shows that feeding newborns that were born through a caesarean section introduces positive microbes into the intestine of the baby with milk, which contains traces of the mother. One day this approach could help prevent diseases in childhood and beyond.
The study that Last week during the Idweek Presented epidemiologists in Los Angeles, California, is the first randomized controlled study that tests the concept of the "chair milk shakes".
The preliminary results confirm the researchers' hypothesis that a small stool transplant is sufficient to have a positive effect on the infant's microbiome, explains Otto Helve, director of the Department of Public Health at Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland, and the main researcher of the study.
inherited microbes
Some studies show that babies that were born by a caesarean section have a higher risk of asthma, inflammation of the digestive system and other diseases associated with a dysfunctional immune system. Data track category = "References"> 1 Scientists believe that these differences arise because Kaiserbirth babies are not exposed to the microbes in the vagins and intestines of their mothers and they do not colonize quickly enough. Studies have even shown that babies born by a caesarean section are more susceptible to pathogens in the hospital than babies who were born vaginal. 2
Experiments have tried to compensate for this deficiency by Babies born by Caesarean section, dabbed with microbina from her mother's vagina or these microbes were administered orally - a practice known as" vaginal seed transmission ". But This technology had limited success, since according to scientists, the intestines of infants cannot effectively colonize, says Yan Shao, microbiom researcher at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton, Great Britain.
Helve and his colleagues were pioneers when checking whether stool transplants can improve the health of the microbiome of babies. In her latest study, which was recruited by women who were planned for a caesarean section at Helsinki University Hospital, the researchers mixed 3.5 milligrams of a mother in milk and administered this mixture to the corresponding baby. This was done with 15 babies during their first feeding. Another 16 babies received a placebo.
An analysis of the stool samples of the babies showed that the two groups had a similar microbial diversity at birth. From the second day of life, however, there was a clear difference between the two groups that lasted until the age of 6 months when babies begin to eat solid food.
The study that the babies observed during their first two years is still ongoing, but the early data is matching what in a small pilot study 3 was seen that was published by the same team in 2020 and had no placebo group. The researchers examined seven babies and found that the microbiomas of those who received a stool transplant from the mother developed similarly to the babies born by Vaginal.
"In view of the success of the pilot study, it is not surprising that the stool transplantation of mothers would make a difference in the microbiome of caesarean section babies," says Shao. He points out that, although the study is important, it does not compare the microbioma of treated caesarean section babies with the infant born by Vaginal-which would be necessary to prove that the technology effectively restores the microbiomas impaired by a caesarean section.
"Don't try it out at home"
The researchers emphasize that this approach should not be tried out at home. The participants in the study went through extensive tests. "You have to make sure that the chair that you give the newborn does not contain any pathogens that could cause an illness," says Helve. Out of 90 initially enclosed women, 54 were excluded due to pathogens or other screening errors. "Even if it sounds easy, it should be checked well," adds Helve.
Helve warns that this approach is probably not suitable for every baby born as a result. In a large group of children, he says, there is enough statistical power to see that some diseases, such as asthma, occur more frequently in caesarean section borns. "But the differences are very small on an individual level." Therefore, his team would benefit the most benefit whether groups that have a high risk of certain diseases.
An important next step in this area, says Shao, it would be to identify the specific maternal artificial bacteria that are most likely to be transferred to the scourge of their babies. Shao asks: "If these types exist in human populations, it would not be more effective and safer to give newborns a graft made in the laboratory that is guaranteed to be pathogen -free?"
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Kristensen, K. & Henriksen, L. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 137, 587–590 (2016).
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Shao, Y. et al. Nature 574, 117–121 (2019).
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Korpela, K. et al. Cell 183, 324–334 (2020).