The composition of the intestinal microbiota of babies born by caesarean section is usually very different from that of those born vaginally, since while these receive their first intestinal bacteria from the maternal birth canal, the dominant bacteria in the microbiota of babies Babies who have come into the world by caesarean section are those found on the mother’s skin, in breast milk and in the environment.
A new study has now found that transferring vaginal bacteria from mothers to newborns by caesarean section accelerates the maturation of their gut microbiota, which may be beneficial for these babies’ neurodevelopment. Although differences in the microbial composition of the gut flora of infants born vaginally and by cesarean section tend to disappear as they grow older, the researchers suggest that early gut microbiota is associated with the development of the infant’s immune system and could influence your risk of developing diseases throughout your life, including diabetes.
Due to this, practices such as vaginal seeding or microbirthing have been carried out, in which mothers rub newborns by cesarean section with their vaginal fluids, however, there is not enough data to support that vaginal seeding is safe and effective. , according to Yan He, from the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou (China) and one of the authors of the work, which has been published in the Cell Host & Microbe journal.
“Discovering what exactly is beneficial in the maternal vaginal microbiota could allow us to design therapies for all babies born via cesarean section in the future”
“When we talk about effectiveness, we are not only referring to whether this intervention could affect the microbiota of the babies, but we are also interested in seeing if this intervention could really improve the phenotypes of the babies, such as their neurodevelopment,” he stated. the investigator.
Higher Scores in Babies’ Neurodevelopment
The researchers rubbed the lips, skin, and hands of 32 C-section newborns with gauze soaked in their mothers’ vaginal fluids and 36 newborns—who served as controls—with saline-soaked gauze. . Before the intervention, the mothers were examined to make sure they did not have infections such as sexually transmitted diseases and group B strep, which could harm their children.
They found that newborns who received the microbiota had more gut bacteria in maternal vaginal fluid six weeks after birth, suggesting that maternal vaginal bacteria successfully reached and colonized the infants’ intestines. Compared with C-section newborns who were swabbed with saline gauze, babies who received a microbial transfer had more mature bacteria in their intestines at six weeks of age, similar to those born vaginally. .
The researchers also assessed the infants’ neurodevelopment at 3 and 6 months of age with a questionnaire asking mothers, for example, whether their infants could make simple sounds or perform movements such as crawling on their hands and knees. In this way they were able to verify that the babies who received vaginal seeding obtained significantly higher scores in neurological development at both 3 months and 6 months, and that their scores were comparable to those of babies born vaginally.
“We don’t know exactly how early gut bacteria affect their neurodevelopment, but there is some indirect evidence showing that some microbial metabolites are related to some health conditions,” Yan He explained. For example, the team found that babies who received vaginal microbiota seeding had more indolelactic acid—a type of metabolite from several species of Clostridium bacteria—in their feces. Previous research has found that indolelactic acid levels are low in people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
“We hope that this study can provide some clues for future research in this field. We want to know if vaginal microbiota seeding has the potential to reduce the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children, such as ADHD, ASD, and intellectual disabilities,” he says, adding that they intend to conduct long-term clinical trials including a larger number. of participants.
“It is something like fecal microbiota transplantation. We need more data to understand this intervention and to make it more precise. Eventually, we may discover what exactly is beneficial in the maternal vaginal microbiota, which could allow us to design therapies for all babies born via caesarean section in the future,” she concludes.
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