External influence of early childhood establishment of gut microbiota and subsequent health implications

Postnatal maturation of immune regulation is largely driven by exposure to microbes. The gastrointestinal tract is the largest source of microbial exposure, as the human gut microbiome contains up to 1014 bacteria, which is ten times the number of cells in the human body. Several studies in recent years have shown differences in the composition of the gut microbiota in children who are exposed to different conditions before, during and early after birth. A number of maternal factors are responsible for the establishment and colonization of gut microbiota in infants, such as the conditions surrounding the prenatal period, time and mode of delivery, diet, mother’s age, BMI, and smoking status, household milieu, socioeconomic status, breastfeeding and antibiotic use, as well as other environmental factors that have profound effects on the microbiota and on immunoregulation during early life. Early exposures impacting the intestinal microbiota are associated with the development of childhood diseases that may persist to adulthood such as asthma, allergic disorders (atopic dermatitis, rhinitis), chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, type 1 diabetes, obesity, and eczema. This overview highlights some of the exposures during the pre and postnatal time periods that are key in the colonization and development of the gastrointestinal microbiota of infants, as well as some of the diseases or disorders that occur due to the pattern of initial gut colonization

Carrageenan gum and adherent invasive Escherichia coli in a piglet model of inflammatory bowel disease: impact on intestinal mucosa-associated microbiota

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic conditions characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation. Adherent invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) pathotype has been increasingly implicated in the etiopathogenesis of IBD. In a 21-day study, we investigated the effects of AIEC strain UM146 colonization on the microbiota profile of the ileal, cecal, ascending and descending colon in a pig model of experimental colitis. Carrageenan gum (CG) was used to induce colitis in weaner piglets whereas AIEC strain UM146 previously isolated from a CD patient was included to investigate a cause or consequence effect in IBD. Treatments were: 1) control; 2) CG; 3) AIEC strain UM146; and 4) CG+UM146. Pigs in groups 2 and 4 received 1% CG in drinking water from day 1 while pigs in groups 3 and 4 were inoculated with UM146 on day 8. Following euthanization on day 21, tissue mucosal scrapings were collected and used for DNA extraction. The V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was then subjected to Illumina sequencing. Microbial diversity, composition and the predicted functional genome were determined in addition to short chain fatty acids profiles in the digesta and inflammatory cytokines in the intestinal tissue. CG-induced colitis decreased bacterial species richness and shifted community composition. At the phylum level, an increase in Proteobacteria and Deferribacteres and a decrease in Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were observed in CG and CGUM146 compared to control and UM146. The metabolic capacity of the microbiome was also altered in CG and CGUM146 compared to UM146 and control in the colon. We demonstrated that CG resulted in bacterial dysbiosis and shifted community composition similar to what has been previously observed in IBD patients. However, AIEC strain UM146 alone did not cause any clear changes compared to CG or control in our experimental IBD pig model

Integrative genomics analysis of blood and microbiota data suggests a NAFLD-related disorder in SLAdd minipigs

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Antepartum Antibiotic Treatment Increases Offspring Susceptibility to Experimental Colitis: A Role of the Gut Microbiota

<div><p>Background and aims</p><p>Postnatal maturation of the immune system is largely driven by exposure to microbes, and thus the nature of intestinal colonization may be associated with development of childhood diseases that may persist into adulthood. We investigated whether antepartum antibiotic (ATB) therapy can increase offspring susceptibility to experimental colitis through alteration of the gut microbiota.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Pregnant C57Bl/6 mice were treated with cefazolin at 160 mg/kg body weight or with saline starting six days before due date. At 7 weeks, fecal samples were collected from male offspring after which they received 4% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water for 5 days. Disease activity index, histology, colonic IL-6, IL-1β and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined. The V3-V4 region of colonic and fecal bacterial 16S rRNA was sequenced. Alpha-, beta-diversity and differences at the phylum and genus levels were determined, while functional pathways of classified bacteria were predicted.</p><p>Results</p><p>ATB influenced fecal bacterial composition and hence bacterial functional pathways before induction of colitis. After induction of colitis, ATB increased onset of clinical disease, histologic score, and colonic IL-6. In addition, ATB decreased fecal microbial richness, changed fecal and colon microbial composition, which was accompanied by a modification of microbial functional pathways. Also, several taxa were associated with ATB at lower taxonomical levels.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The results support the hypothesis that antepartum antibiotics modulate offspring intestinal bacterial colonization and increase susceptibility to develop colonic inflammation in a murine model of colitis, and may guide future interventions to restore physiologic intestinal colonization in offspring born by antibiotic-exposed mothers.</p></div

Human Catestatin Alters Gut Microbiota Composition in Mice

The mammalian intestinal tract is heavily colonized with a dense, complex, and diversified microbial populations. In healthy individuals, an array of epithelial antimicrobial agents is secreted in the gut to aid intestinal homeostasis. Enterochromaffin cells (EC) in the intestinal epithelium are a major source of chromogranin A (CgA), which is a pro-hormone and can be cleaved into many bioactive peptides that include catestatin (CST). This study was carried out to evaluate the possible impact of CST on gut microbiota in vivo using a mouse model. The CST (Human CgA352−372) or normal saline was intrarectally administered in C57BL/6 male mice for 6 days and then sacrificed. Feces and colonic mucosa tissue samples were collected, DNA was extracted, the V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was amplified and subjected to MiSeq Illumina sequencing. The α-diversity was calculated using Chao 1 and β-diversity was determined using QIIME. Differences at the genus level were determined using partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) was used to predict functional capacity of bacterial community. CST treatment did not modify bacterial richness in fecal and colonic mucosa-associated microbiota; however, treatment significantly modified bacterial community composition between the groups. Also, CST-treated mice had a significantly lower relative abundance of Firmicutes and higher abundance of Bacteroidetes, observed only in fecal samples. However, at lower phylogenetic levels, PLS-DA analysis revealed that some bacterial taxa were significantly associated with the CST-treated mice in both fecal and colonic mucosa samples. In addition, differences in predicted microbial functional pathways in both fecal and colonic mucosa samples were detected. The results support the hypothesis that CST treatment modulates gut microbiota composition under non-pathophysiological conditions, however, the result of this study needs to be further validated in a larger experiment. The data may open new avenues for the development of a potential new line of antimicrobial peptides and their use as therapeutic agents to treat several inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS), or other health conditions

Relative abundances of bacterial phyla after induction of colitis in the colon mucosa (A) and in the feces (B).

<p>No significant difference was observed in the abundant phyla between the treatment groups. 10 mice per group.</p

Principle coordinate analysis (PCoA) of (A) Unweighted (<i>P = 0</i>.<i>0003</i>) and (B) Weighted (<i>P</i> = 0.06) UniFrac distances, an OTU based unsupervised measure of beta-diversity in fecal samples collected before induction of colitis.

<p>Fecal samples clustered according to the treatment. The clustering was further influenced by the mother especially in the unweighted analysis (<i>P</i> = 0.001). The <i>P</i> values were determined using PERMANOVA. 10 mice per group. ControlM1 and ControlM2 shows mice in the control group but from two different mothers; ATBm1 and ATBm2 shows mice in the ATB (antibiotic) group but from two different mothers.</p