Analysis of the gut microbiota using MALDI-TOF and cultural techniques in breastfed infants delivered vaginally and through caesarean section

Abstract

The gastrointestinal tract of newborns is colonised immediately after birth with microbes from the environment, mainly from the mother. According to studies, the early neonatal microbiota is crucial for developing the postnatal immune system. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between neonatal gut flora and the mode of delivery during gut microbiota colonisation. A total of 30 neonates – 16 born vaginally and 14 by caesarean section – participated in this study of the intestinal bacterial composition at 3 days of age. Stool cultures and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight analyses determine aerobic and anaerobic bacterial species. Neonates delivered by caesarean section appeared to have a less diverse gut microbiota regarding bacterial species than vaginally delivered neonates. Bifidobacterium species are absent from the gut microbiota after caesarean delivery. Even though every newborn vaginally born had a unique microbial profile, the most prevalent bacterial species were Streptococcus spp., Veillonella atypica, Bacteroides vulgatus and Bifidobacterium spp. Our results suggest that the mode of birth significantly influences the gut microbiota composition in the 1st year of human life. This study opens the path to further investigations to confirm the link between microbiota composition and enterotypes of the gut microbiome of breastfed neonates. In addition, we underline the importance of MALDI-TOF for species-level identification of organisms within a fraction of a second.