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Intestinal microbes show complex development in infants

Researchers studying stool samples from 14 healthy babies during the first year of Life have found that infants have varied, dynamic, and complex colonies of intestinal microbes, according to a June 25, 2007, news release from the Stanford School of Medicine, California. The research was carried out to investigate how microbes establish flourishing communities in what begins (ie, in utero) as a sterile environment.

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Parents of the infants collected stool samples according to a prescribed schedule (eg, first stool after birth) and during key events (eg, starting on solid food, taking antibiotics). All of the 14 infants in the study were delivered at term and were breast-fed. Six babies were given antimicrobial medicines at some time during their first year; however, only one of these infants showed a dramatic change in intestinal flora after receiving the medication. Two of the infants were fraternal twins and were the only ones delivered by cesarean section. The twins had much lower bacterial levels than other babies during the first week of life, possibly because they were not exposed to the mother's vaginal or rectal environments. They also had the most similarity in their microbial community profiles, which may indicate that genetics or environment factor into the development of intestinal microbes.

The researchers determined that each baby had very different microbes colonizing his or her intestinal tract at different stages of development. By the end of the first year, each baby's microbial colonization was complex, and the microbes were similar to those found in the intestines of adults.

Baby poop gives Stanford researchers inside scoop on development of gut microbes [news release]. Stanford, CA: Stanford School of Medicine; June 25, 2007. http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2007/june/baby-bugs.html. Accessed July 10, 2002.

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Intestinal microbes show complex development in infants

AORN Journal, Jan, 2008

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