Antibiotics administered during labor delay healthy gut bacteria in babies

Source: McMaster University

November 28, 2017

Early life microbial colonization and succession is critically important to healthy development, with impacts on metabolic and immunologic processes throughout life.

One out of every three or four pregnant women test positive for Group B Streptococcus during routine screening and the majority choose to receive antibiotic prophylaxis during labour to prevent GBS transmission to their infant at birth. Infant infections can lead to serious illness including meningitis and death in a very small number of infants, and antibiotic treatment is an important prevention strategy.

Our research indicates there is a delay in the expansion of the dominant infant gut colonizer, called Bifidobacterium, when infants are exposed to antibiotics for GBS prevention during vaginal labour.

It's a good sign that bacterial groups recover by 12 weeks but it's still unclear what these findings mean for infant health, especially since early infancy is such an important developmental time.

The study utilized data from 74 mother-infant pairs in the McMaster pilot cohort called Baby & Mi. Participants came from low-risk populations in Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario.

The gut bacteria development of the infants was tested at four points over the first 12 weeks of life, including at three days, 10 days, six weeks and 12 weeks.

The babies were healthy, full-term, breast-fed babies predominantly born vaginally, with a small percentage born by C-section that were also exposed to antibiotics to prevent surgical infection. As in previous studies, babies born by C-section had delayed expansion of the key gut colonizer compared to babies born vaginally without exposure.

A larger study is underway that will determine the long-term consequences of antibiotics administered during labour for GBS on both microbial succession and on health and disease risk. This will help us explore in greater depth the influence of maternal and infant variables on the infant gut microbiome.

Edited by:M.Hezarkhani  M.D. Urologist

Journal Reference:

Jennifer C. Stearns, Julia Simioni, Elizabeth Gunn, Helen McDonald, Alison C. Holloway, Lehana Thabane, Andrea Mousseau, Jonathan D. Schertzer, Elyanne M. Ratcliffe, Laura Rossi, Michael G. Surette, Katherine M. Morrison, Eileen K. Hutton. Intrapartum antibiotics for GBS prophylaxis alter colonization patterns in the early infant gut microbiome of low risk infants. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-16606-9