Abstract
Objectives and Study
The gut microbiota is increasingly appreciated as having an important impact on health. Its development in
infancy remains an important topic but understanding of this is hampered by many small studies with
heterogeneous methodology.
We employed a systematic review methodology to identify studies that have reported on gut microbiome in
infancy. We performed a unified bioinformatic reanalysis of sequence outputs to characterise changes in gut
microbiome in infants aged 8 weeks to 1 year of life.
Methods
MEDLINE and Embase searches to February 2024 identified studies of interest. Where available, 16S rRNA
sequence datasets were downloaded and missing datasets requested. Integrated datasets were run through a
unified QIIME2 pipeline supplemented by phyloseq.
Results
3664 studies were screened, of which 11 manuscripts, comprising 1508 stool samples from 902 infants, were
suitable for bioinformatic re-analysis. Age at time of sampling was grouped by 2 month bands for the purposes
of analysis (2-4m, 4-6m, 6-8m, 8-10m and 10-12m with 458, 394, 109, 340, 207 samples respectively).
Shannon diversity was shown to increase over the first year of life, with an acceleration after 8 months of age
(Figure 1A). Principal components analysis of Bray-Curtis beta diversity (PCoA) Figure 1B) demonstrated
contraction of the range of microbial community structures and migration away from the starting point with
time, particularly after 8 months. Compositional data demonstrated the arrival and expansion of
Faecalibacterium and Blautia spp. after 6 months, in keeping with a change in available dietary substrate.
Conclusions
This singular re-analysis of sequence data from over 900 infants reiterates the growth in microbial diversity
throughout infancy and demonstrates a rapid acceleration post 8-months months, coinciding with the pivot
towards a solid food diet. Further study is required to understand the specific drivers of this change and to
explore the therapeutic potential of directly influencing this phase of colonisation.
The gut microbiota is increasingly appreciated as having an important impact on health. Its development in
infancy remains an important topic but understanding of this is hampered by many small studies with
heterogeneous methodology.
We employed a systematic review methodology to identify studies that have reported on gut microbiome in
infancy. We performed a unified bioinformatic reanalysis of sequence outputs to characterise changes in gut
microbiome in infants aged 8 weeks to 1 year of life.
Methods
MEDLINE and Embase searches to February 2024 identified studies of interest. Where available, 16S rRNA
sequence datasets were downloaded and missing datasets requested. Integrated datasets were run through a
unified QIIME2 pipeline supplemented by phyloseq.
Results
3664 studies were screened, of which 11 manuscripts, comprising 1508 stool samples from 902 infants, were
suitable for bioinformatic re-analysis. Age at time of sampling was grouped by 2 month bands for the purposes
of analysis (2-4m, 4-6m, 6-8m, 8-10m and 10-12m with 458, 394, 109, 340, 207 samples respectively).
Shannon diversity was shown to increase over the first year of life, with an acceleration after 8 months of age
(Figure 1A). Principal components analysis of Bray-Curtis beta diversity (PCoA) Figure 1B) demonstrated
contraction of the range of microbial community structures and migration away from the starting point with
time, particularly after 8 months. Compositional data demonstrated the arrival and expansion of
Faecalibacterium and Blautia spp. after 6 months, in keeping with a change in available dietary substrate.
Conclusions
This singular re-analysis of sequence data from over 900 infants reiterates the growth in microbial diversity
throughout infancy and demonstrates a rapid acceleration post 8-months months, coinciding with the pivot
towards a solid food diet. Further study is required to understand the specific drivers of this change and to
explore the therapeutic potential of directly influencing this phase of colonisation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 16 May 2025 |
| Event | 57th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition - Messukeskus Helsinki, Expo and Convention Centre, Helsinki, Finland Duration: 14 May 2025 → 17 May 2025 Conference number: 57th https://espghancongress.org/ (Conference information) |
Conference
| Conference | 57th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ESPGHAN 57th Annual Meeting |
| Country/Territory | Finland |
| City | Helsinki |
| Period | 14/05/25 → 17/05/25 |
| Internet address |
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