Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jun;9(3):242-8.
doi: 10.4162/nrp.2015.9.3.242. Epub 2014 Nov 20.

Comparison of the gut microbiota profile in breast-fed and formula-fed Korean infants using pyrosequencing

Sang A Lee  1 , Ji Ye Lim  2 , Bong-Soo Kim  3 , Su Jin Cho  4 , Nak Yon Kim  5 , Ok Bin Kim  6 , Yuri Kim  7
Affiliations

Comparison of the gut microbiota profile in breast-fed and formula-fed Korean infants using pyrosequencing

Sang A Lee et al. Nutr Res Pract. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Background/objectives: Feeding in infancy is the most significant determinant of the intestinal microbiota in early life. The aim of this study was to determine the gut microbiota of Korean infants and compare the microbiota obtained between breast-fed and formula-fed Korean infants.

Subjects/methods: We analyzed the microbial communities in fecal samples collected from twenty 4-week old Korean (ten samples in each breast-fed or formula-fed) infants using pyrosequencing.

Results: The fecal microbiota of the 4-week-old Korean infants consisted of the three phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. In addition, five species, including Bifidocbacterium longum, Streptococcus salivarius, Strepotococcus lactarius, Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae, and Lactobacillus gasseri were common commensal intestinal microbiota in all infants. The predominant intestinal microbiota in the breast-fed infants (BFI) included the phylum Actinobacteria (average 70.55%), family Bifidobacteriacea (70.12%), genus Bifidobacterium (70.03%) and species Bifidobacterium longum (69.96%). In the microbiota from the formula-fed infants (FFI), the proportion of the phylum Actinobacteria (40.68%) was less, whereas the proportions of Firmicutes (45.38%) and Proteobacteria (13.85%) as well as the diversity of each taxonomic level were greater, compared to those of the BFI. The probiotic species found in the 4-week-old Korean infants were Bifidobacterium longum, Streptococcus salivarius, and Lactobacillus gasseri. These probiotic species accounted for 93.81% of the microbiota from the BFI, while only 63.80% of the microbiota from the FFI. In particular, B. longum was more abundant in BFI (69.96%) than in FFI (34.17%).

Conclusions: Breast milk supports the growth of B. longum and inhibits others. To the best of our knowledge, this study was the first attempt to analyze the gut microbiota of healthy Korean infants according to the feeding type using pyrosequencing. Our data can be used as a basis for further studies to investigate the development of intestinal microbiota with aging and disease status.

Keywords: Gut microbiota; breast-fed; formula-fed; pyrosequencing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Aggregate microbiota composition at pylum/family level from fecal samples of 4 wks old infants.
(A) Breast-fed infants, (B) Formula-fed infants.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Heatmap analysis of the species detected from pyrosequencing of fecal samples from 4 wks old BFI and FFI.
The data contained in the matrix are represented by black and white colors. The minimum ratio of a taxon is displayed as an individual sample. The cut-off value was set to 1%. BFI, Breast-fed infants; FFI, Formula-fed infants
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. The compositions of probiotics at the species level in fecal samples from 4-week-old BFI and FFI.
etc., bacteria other than probiotics; BFI, Breast-fed infants; FFI, Formula-fed infants
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Scatter plots showing the proportions of Bifidobacterium sequences with respect to the total sequences obtained from pyrosequencing 16S rRNA genes associated with feeding type.
Mean values (horizontal lines) and significance values (P, Mann-Whitney) are shown. BFI, Breast-fed infants; FFI, Formula-fed infants
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Simon GL, Gorbach SL. Intestinal flora in health and disease. Gastroenterology. 1984;86:174–193. - PubMed
    1. Young VB. The intestinal microbiota in health and disease. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2012;28:63–69. - PMC - PubMed
    1. De Filippo C, Cavalieri D, Di Paola M, Ramazzotti M, Poullet JB, Massart S, Collini S, Pieraccini G, Lionetti P. Impact of diet in shaping gut microbiota revealed by a comparative study in children from Europe and rural Africa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010;107:14691–14696. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cardona F, Andrés-Lacueva C, Tulipani S, Tinahones FJ, Queipo-Ortuño MI. Benefits of polyphenols on gut microbiota and implications in human health. J Nutr Biochem. 2013;24:1415–1422. - PubMed
    1. Arumugam M, Raes J, Pelletier E, Le Paslier D, Yamada T, Mende DR, Fernandes GR, Tap J, Bruls T, Batto JM, Bertalan M, Borruel N, Casellas F, Fernandez L, Gautier L, Hansen T, Hattori M, Hayashi T, Kleerebezem M, Kurokawa K, Leclerc M, Levenez F, Manichanh C, Nielsen HB, Nielsen T, Pons N, Poulain J, Qin J, Sicheritz-Ponten T, Tims S, Torrents D, Ugarte E, Zoetendal EG, Wang J, Guarner F, Pedersen O, de Vos WM, Brunak S, Doré J, Antolín M, Artiguenave F, Blottiere HM, Almeida M, Brechot C, Cara C, Chervaux C, Cultrone A, Delorme C, Denariaz G, Dervyn R, Foerstner KU, Friss C, van de Guchte M, Guedon E, Haimet F, Huber W, van Hylckama-Vlieg J, Jamet A, Juste C, Kaci G, Knol J, Lakhdari O, Layec S, Le Roux K, Maguin E, Mérieux A, Melo Minardi R, M'rini C, Muller J, Oozeer R, Parkhill J, Renault P, Rescigno M, Sanchez N, Sunagawa S, Torrejon A, Turner K, Vandemeulebrouck G, Varela E, Winogradsky Y, Zeller G, Weissenbach J, Ehrlich SD, Bork P MetaHIT Consortium. Enterotypes of the human gut microbiome. Nature. 2011;473:174–180. - PMC - PubMed