Influence of Early Life, Diet, and the Environment on the Microbiome

Abstract

Advances in sequencing technology and bioinformatics have greatly enhanced our ability to understand the human microbiome. Over the last decade, a growing body of literature has linked nutrition and the environment to the microbiome and is now thought to be an important contributor to overall health. This paper reviews the literature from the past 10 years to highlight the influence of environmental factors such as diet, early life adversity and stress in shaping and modifying our microbiome towards health and disease. The review shows that many factors such as the mode of delivery, breast milk, stress, diet and medications can greatly influence the development of our gut microbiome and potentially make us more prone to certain diseases. By incorporating environmental factors into models that study the microbiome in the setting of health and disease, may provide a better understanding of disease and potentially new areas of treatment. To highlight this, we will additionally explore the role of the environment and the microbiome in the development of obesity and functional bowel disorders.

Keywords: Early Life Diet; Environment; Gut Microbiome; Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Obesity; Stress.

Figure 1:. Environmental Factors Shape and Change the Microbiome Over Time and Perturbations can lead to disease.

Maternal Factors: Vaginal infections and gut microbiome can lead to bacterial translocation into the uterus. Postnatal Factors: Mode of delivery, breast feeding vs. formula feeding, introduction of solid food, and early life adversity and antibiotic exposure can shape the developing microbiome in early childhood. Environmental Factors Across the Lifespan: Long-term diet and exposure to animals can modify the microbiome throughout childhood and adulthood. Perturbations to the Microbiome: Medications such as antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors, and metformin and a variety of different diets can make individuals more prone to disease like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and obesity. Stress can lead to changes in the microbiome that affects intestinal permeability and SCFA production. Smoking can cause microbial shifts that changes inflammatory signaling and colonic mucin production, all of which can be mechanisms that leads to the development of disease.