C-section and Vaginal birth impact the gut microbial composition in breastfed infants.

Sanchita Paranthaman

Overview

The human gut harbors a dynamic population of microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses. The dominant gut microbial phyla are Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia, while the Actinobacteria make up the majority of infant’s gut. Microbial colonization in early life differs between infants and strongly influences their health status and susceptibility to later immune diseases. The microbiome during the first years of an infant’s life is influenced by the mode of delivery and the gut bacteria differs between infants born via C-section and vaginally. Infants that are born via C-section get the mother’s skin microbiota and hospital-acquired harmful bacteria whereas vaginally born infants will get their bacteria from the mother's birth canal. This project examines the infant microbiome of 174 breastfed infants from the PREVAIL cohort study, comparing C-section to vaginally delivered infants. DNA was extracted from stool samples collected from 6-week-old infants, sequenced using NovaSeq, and the bacterial species abundance in each group was analyzed using R statistical analysis LEfSe analysis. Data analysis revealed that the relative abundance of Firmicutes was significantly higher (p<0.0001) in the infants born via C-section when compared to the infants born vaginally. In infants born vaginally, the Bacteroidetes (p<0.0001) and Actinobacteria (p<0.05) were significantly higher than the other bacterial groups. Another novel finding in this study is the significant increase in the abundance of next generation probiotic bacteria (NGP) such as, Parabacteroides goldsteinii, Bacteroides ovatus, Bacteroides dorei and Bacteroides uniformis (p<0.0001) in infants that were born vaginally compared to infants born via C-section.

From the student

I have always had a passion for science as a child and the science fair club at my school laid the foundation for my research journey. The NPR news podcast about sleep deprivation in kids piqued my interest to perform my seventh grade project titled: “The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Weight Gain in Mice”. I received many awards at the district and state science fair. This motivated me to pursue my interest in projects related to real world problems. Subsequently, I worked on projects involving the gut microbiome. When I realized I wanted to learn more about the gut microbiome, I connected with my mentor Dr. Ardythe Morrow during my Junior year of high school. She specializes in the field of breastmilk and its connection to chronic disease. With her post-doc Dr. Alex Thorman, I learned how to analyze microbiome data using the statistical program R. After two years researching topics with them, I wanted to learn more about the relationship between delivery mode and infant gut microbe colonization.

I’m currently working towards publishing my research with the help of my mentors. I’m now studying medical sciences (pre-med track) at the University of Cincinnati and working as a clinical research coordinator at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I enjoy learning Indian classical dance, learning how to code with Python, and inspiring the younger generation with my nonprofit Artsy Altruists. My other interests are card making, listening to music with my sister, and spending time with my energetic schnoodle puppy Sarge.