Neonate Gut Bacteria May Determine Risk of Overweight Later

Breastfeeding may lower infants’ risk of overweight during childhood, and gut microbiota may influence this relationship, according to new research.

These findings emerged from a study of a subset of 1087 infants who were enrolled in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) cohort. A total of 579 of 1077 infants with maternal self-report data were exclusively breastfed.
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Self-report data from mothers and hospital record data were used to assess feeding. Fecal microbiota from 996 infants aged 3 to 4 months and 821 infants aged 12 months were examined using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing.

Findings from covariate-adjusted models indicated that infants who were exclusively fed with formula at 3 months had an increased risk of overweight vs breastfed infants (33.3% vs 19.2%). However, this association was lower following further adjustment for microbiota features typical of formula feeding at 3 to 4 months.

Microbiota profiles at age 3 months had stronger ties to the risk of overweight than microbiota profiles at age 12 months.

A total of 179 of 579 infants who were exclusively breastfed and briefly supplemented with formula as neonates were found to have a lower relative abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae and higher relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae at age 3 to 4 months. However, the researchers noted, this did not affect their risk for overweight.

Notably, the researchers observed significant differences in microbiota profiles at age 12 months based on feeding practices at age 6 months. Among infants who were partially breastfed, formula supplementation was associated with a higher diversity and enrichment of Bacteroidaceae (similar to the microbiota profile seen in non-breastfed infants).

However, the introduction of complementary foods without formula was associated with lower diversity and enrichment of Bifidobacteriaceae and Veillonellaceae (similar to the profile seen in exclusively breastfed infants).

“Breastfeeding may be protective against overweight, and gut microbiota may contribute to this effect,” the researchers wrote. “Formula feeding appears to stimulate changes in microbiota that are associated with overweight, whereas other complementary foods do not. Subtle microbiota differences emerge after brief exposure to formula in the hospital.”

“These results identify important areas for future research and distinguish early infancy as a critical period when transient gut dysbiosis may lead to increased risk of overweight,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Forbes JD, Azad MB, Vehling L, et al; Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study Investigators. Association of exposure to formula in the hospital and subsequent infant feeding practices with gut microbiota and risk of overweight in the first year of life [Published online June 4, 2018]. JAMA Pediatr. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.1161.