Diversity In Infant Gut Microbiome

 The human Microbiome consists of all the microorganisms present in the human body at any given time. These microorganisms play a big role in the overall health of our bodies. Having a healthy microbiome is thought to translate to a physically healthy body that is less susceptible to disease or illness. Every single person has a unique microbiome as family genes, diet, environment, and medication can all affect its composition. However, as infants, we are all born with very similar microbiomes. What contributes to the drastic changes in our microbiomes when we all share a very similar gut microbiome as newborns?  

 

  In order to get a grasp of why our gut microbiomes are so unique, research was conducted on infant stool samples (fecal 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing) from non-industrialized populations (the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania). A lot is known about the infant microbiome from industrialized nations. However, there is very little known about the infant microbiome from non-industrialized nations. The article focuses on gaining information from sequenced infant stool samples from an un-industrialized population from the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania. This acquired information from the infant non-industrialized populations stool samples was then uploaded and analyzed in a global meta-analysis. The sequenced infant stool samples were not the only thing analyzed. The lifestyle and environment of both the industrialized and non-industrialized populations were also analyzed and compared.

 

   The data in this article show that when comparing the sequenced infant stool samples from the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania to a comparative data set of industrialized infants it was found that all the infants begin with very similar Bifidobacteria-dominated assemblages with slight differences. However, it is shown that after the first 6 months of life as the infants are raised in different environments the microbiome changes accordingly. The industrialized infants show a less diverse microbiota compared to the non-industrialized infants. This decrease in diversity is thought to have a negative effect on our overall health and immune system. This shows that lifestyle plays a big role in the composition of a human microbiome. As we grow depending on the environment and diet we have, results in the changes in the composition of our microbiomes. 

 

 

Adyelis M. Colon Martinez (1)

 

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj2972

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2022 at 7:38 PM

    I thought your post was very interesting! I think that it is very fascinating how we all can grow up so differently even though as infants we all begin with very similar microbiomes. A lot of us have deadly allergies while some of us do not. I wonder if there is a "good" way to be raised in which our microbiomes are affected so that we do not grow up with weaker health or immune systems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2022 at 7:38 PM

      Alissa N

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    2. Adyelis M. Colon MartinezSeptember 28, 2022 at 10:18 AM

      Absolutely! One of the reasons I chose an article on this topic was due to my own curiosity on what a “good” way to be raised would be. What I found from the article is that in industrialized infants the majority of the time are fed formula almost immediately as the mothers are required to work or are unable to breast feed or it is just more convinient. On the other hand unindustrialized infants are almost exclusively fed on breast milk due to the mothers not being able to buy formula or even said formula is unavailable to them thus forcing them to breast feed exclusively. Breast milk is extremely beneficial to infants and is one of the reasons for having a healthy gut microbiome.
      - Adyelis M. Colon Martinez

      Delete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2022 at 9:09 PM

    It is interesting that industrialized areas are not giving infants the healthiest microbiome. You would think that with all the state of the art medical technology industrialized areas have, we would have the most diverse microbiomes in our infants, making them the healthiest. This is not true. Being exposed to bacteria strengthens our immune systems as babies, so infants growing up in different areas are exposed to different bacterias, therefore giving them stronger microbiomes. I feel as though we forget about good bacteria when it comes to health, as we are always trying to stay away from bacteria.
    Elizabeth Hardy

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    Replies
    1. Adyelis M. Colon MartinezSeptember 28, 2022 at 10:24 AM

      Yes! That is such a good a good point to bring up. Bacteria get such a bad reputation all the time, people are fed so many misconceptions on how harmful bacteria is without aknowledging the benefits. Bacteria has so many health benefits as mentioned in the article, having a well balanced and diverse microbiome is the key to a healthy lifestyle. We often forget how important it is to come in contact with a diverse number of bacteria and how beneficial it is to build up our immunity.
      - Adyelis M. Colon Martinez

      Delete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2022 at 12:52 PM

    The article you chose was really interesting! I always wondered how gut microbes could impact health and our immune system, but I didn't realize that these effects were present at such a young age! It is really fascinating that industrialized infants were found to have less diverse microbes than non-industrialized infants. It makes me curious if there is anyway to grow microbe diversity in the industrialized infants.

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  4. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2022 at 4:58 PM

    It's cool to see how all infants are born with relatively the same microbiome. I assumed that it would all be different from the start because I thought that maybe the mother's environment and what she ate played a role. I'm curious to know how different people's microbiome is across the US.
    - Tiffany Pham

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2022 at 9:08 PM

    Hi Adyelis! I thought that this post was really interesting! Now knowing that lifestyle plays a large role in gut microbiome diversity, I wonder what factors are truly playing into the diversity levels (such as diet, any sort of medicine/vaccinations, health of the mother during pregnancy, etc.).
    - Amy Perez

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2022 at 1:08 PM

      Actually, all of the factors that you mentioned (diet, medicine, vaccinations, health of the mother during pregnancy,etc.) do indeed play a big role in the diversity levels of a persons gut microbiome. The gut microbiome is such a ficlke thing that is always changing from day to day depending on what you do that day. Anything you do or where you go will impact your gut microbiome. This is such an interestic notion to me as your gut microbiome is dependant on such a large amount of factors that creates such a unique gut microbiome.
      -Adyelis M. Colon Martinez

      Delete
  6. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2022 at 10:37 AM

    Hi Adyelis! Great post! I took a class in high school that discussed a lot about microbiomes. We talked about how infants had different microbiomes if they were a C section vs if they were born from natural childbirth. Did you see any information on an infants microbiome if they were born naturally or through surgery?

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