How might microorganisms move from one part of the body to another? Let's begin with the womb, where the concept of fetal colonization has rapidly gained acceptance, indicated by meconium and placental microbe studies.

Characterizing the gut microbiota of lactating women

19 Oct 2015

by Kristina Campbell

In this study, researchers characterized the gut microbiota of breastfeeding mothers after collecting fecal samples from 2 days to 6 months postpartum. They found that the women's gut bacterial communities were similar to those found in other adults; the gut

Reyes, et al., from Gordon’s team, aimed to characterize microbial community development in healthy and malnourished children aged zero to three. They studied Malawian twin pairs: those concordant for healthy growth, and those in which one developed severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and the other did not -- that is, discordant pairs.

The gut microbiota of healthy pre-adolescents

24 Sep 2015

by James Versalovic

In this study, Texas researchers investigated the structure, function, and variation of the gut microbiota in healthy children, aged 7-12 years (n = 37).

Some bacteria transfer from mother to child

18 Sep 2015

by Kristina Campbell

One of the probiotic strains was recovered in the stool of the children at 10 days and 3 months of age, but there were no differences between the gut microbiota of the children in the control group and those in the probiotic group at 1 and 2 years of age.

Bifidobacteria colonization in newborns

5 Aug 2015

by GMFH Editing Team

Bifidobacteria is a key marker of a healthy gut flora in infants. A Brazilian study of 49 newborns -- 24 full-term and 25 pre-term (31.2 weeks) -- explored the prevalence and concentration of bifidobacteria in stools of one-month-old newborns using qPCR.

Previous research has shown that adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who adopt a low FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols) diet show an improvement in symptoms within 2 days. Would the low FODMAP diet have the same effect in childhood IBS? Does the gut microbiota predict the success of the diet in children who respond to this dietary intervention?

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