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MUMBAI: A new Japanese study identified certain gut bacteria among newborns that are associated with food sensitivities and the development of food allergies.
The study, led by Hiroshi Ohno at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences and published in the ‘Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology‘, suggests that certain probiotic supplements might be a good early defence for preventing food allergies in at-risk infants.
It is known that microbiota present in the gut soon after birth help with the normal development of the immune system and even protect against some diseases.
The new study analysed gut bacteria data from two separate groups of Japanese children for seven years, starting from birth. One was a high-risk group of 270 children from families with histories of allergies, while the other was a group of 245 children from a previous study designed to test allergy treatments.
The study looked at milk-, peanut-, egg white-, and wheat-specific IgE levels in the blood from one year after birth until the children were seven years old. The gut microbiota data was also collected, starting from one week after birth. By analysing both, the team found that gut microbiota present one month after birth were the most related to the food-specific IgE levels in the blood.
The scientists found that the mode of delivery and the amount of breastfeeding were linked to the child’s gut microbiota. Infants who were delivered normally and received relatively less breastfeeding turned out to be in the best shape, having type-3, Bifidobacterium-dominant microbiomes. Type-1 microbiota dominated when births were normal, but breastfeeding was high, while type-2 microbiota dominated when delivery required a Cesarean section and the amount of breastfeeding was low.
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