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Infant formula is designed to mimic human breast milk not only in nutrients but also by a similar set of microbes in the digestive tract. Such microbes are indispensable in keeping us healthy: They are a bacteria-causing disease, influencing our metabolism, and synthesizing many vitamins and amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.
Now, a new study finds that while formula and breast milk encourages the growth of similar types of bacteria in the digestive tract, the bacteria work differently. The health implications of these differences are as yet unclear.
"Formula makers are continually tweaking their ingredients," said senior author Gautam Dantas, Ph.D., professor of pathology and immunology, of biomedical engineering and molecular microbiology. at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "But they're doing the same thing, but they're doing the same thing, but they're not doing the same thing."
The findings are published Oct. 29 in Nature Medicine.
Dantas, first author Aimee M. Baumann-Dudenhoeffer, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics, and colleagues analyzed the complete DNA of bacteria to 60 babies to identify the members of each child's microbiome-the community of bacteria in the digestive tract . They were also able to identify which amino acids and other biomolecules the gut bacteria were capable of synthesizing and breaking down. Gut microbes release metabolic byproducts that influence physiologic functions including nutrition, inflammation and digestive health.
The researchers analyzed fecal samples collected from the St. Louis Neonatal Gut Microbiome Project by Barbara B. Warner, MD, a professor of pediatrics, and Phillip I. Tarr, MD, the Melvin E. Carnahan Professor of Pediatrics . The researchers studied 402 fecal samples collected monthly from birth to age 8 months from 30 sets of twins born in the St. Louis area. They also collected information on how to be fed, including the specific brands of infant formula purchased.
Breast milk is rich in protein, but then protein levels decline. The researchers found that the microbiome of breastfed babies compensated for low levels of certain amino acids by increasing the levels of the genetic software to synthesize such amino acids-including methionine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, cysteine, serine, threonine and arginine. .
Formula-fed babies, on the other hand, harbored bacteria capable of making a very different set of amino acids. Their gut bacteria have been made less likely to be used in the manufacture of methionine and cysteine-amino acids than are those which are more commonly used in breast milk, and more often than in vitro.
"The goal of all formulas is to look like breast milk-like, and they're not achieving that," Dantas said. "In terms of which bacteria are there, they look like, they do not mean different, it does not mean different, and we have to understand what the health consequences are. "
Many formulas now contain sugar molecules designed to imitate human milk sugars, which are added to a breastfed-like microbiome. In particular, these sugars promote the growth of Bifidobacteria, a key part of a healthy microbiome in infants and children. Bifidobacteria in the form of a microbiota, which is one of the most common micronutrients in the diet.
The study included six children who were fed soy formula. The soy-fed infants generated a total of 37 fecal samples, some taken before the baby were switched to soy formula. The soy-fed babies 'microbiomes were strikingly different from the rest of the childrens', with scant Bifidobacteria buttifying genetic tools for producing short-chain fatty acids. The combination is a sign of an unhealthy microbiome, but the choice of soy formula may have been the result of an unbalanced gut, not the cause of it, the researchers said. Bifidobacteria had been sparse in the soy-fed infants even before they started on the soy formula.
"Baumann-Dudenhoeffer said," We do not know why parents are selected for these kids, but we do know babies with low Bifidobacteria are more likely to be colicky, and when babies are fussy, parents tend to try new formulas, "Baumann-Dudenhoeffer said. These are some of the most important things in the life of the body that we know are good for healthy development. "
Dantas and Baumann-Dudenhoeffer Nowadays, they are considering their microbiome, and how to do it.
"Early infancy is a critical period for neurodevelopment and physiological development," Baumann-Dudenhoeffer said. "Many of the synthesis pathways we have found in breastfed infants have been shown to be important for nutrition and other important nutrients." "We could change the microbiome, even if the effect is just temporary, it could still have important positive effects."
Explore further:
Sugars in mother's milk help baby shape microbiome and ward off infection
More information:
Aimee M. Baumann-Dudenhoeffer et al., Infant diet and maternal gestational weight gain predict early maturation of gut microbiomes, Nature Medicine (2018). DOI: 10.1038 / s41591-018-0216-2
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