The Baby & Microbiota of the Intestine Project (Baby & Mi)

The Baby & Microbiota of the Intestine Project is a 3-year longitudinal cohort study aimed to explore the development of the infant gut microbiota and the impact of early life exposures such as feeding, antibiotic and growth. Lead investigator: Eileen Hutton (co-PI) and Katherine Morrison (co-PI)

Background

It is thought that the colonisation of the newborn gut develops rapidly within the first days of life and is highly dynamic within the first 3 years of life. With increasing research supporting the important role of the gut microbiota and its contribution to metabolic health and disease, it is important to understand how early life exposures including: mode of delivery, place of birth, diet, and probiotics may impact the development of the infant gut. Our study aims to understand the patterns of typical microbiota establishment in health full term infants born to women in low-risk pregnancies with an interest in comparing the microbiota of infant born to mothers exposure to intrapartum antibiotics for GBS prophylaxis.

Methodology

3-year longitudinal study; with N=240 mother-infant pairs

Publications

• Simioni J, Hutton EK, Gunn E, Holloway AC, Stearns JC, McDonald H, Mousseau A, Schertzer JD, Ratcliffe EM, Thabane L, Surette MG. A comparison of intestinal microbiota in a population of low-risk infants exposed and not exposed to intrapartum antibiotics: The Baby & Microbiota of the Intestine cohort study protocol. BMC pediatrics. 2016 Dec;16(1):183. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27832763
• Stearns JC, Simioni J, Gunn E, McDonald H, Holloway AC, Thabane L, Mousseau A, Schertzer JD, Ratcliffe EM, Rossi L, Surette MG. Intrapartum antibiotics for GBS prophylaxis alter colonization patterns in the early infant gut microbiome of low risk infants. Scientific reports. 2017 Nov 28;7(1):16527. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29184093

Investigators and Collaborators

Alison Holloway, Helen McDonald, Andrea Mousseau, Elyanne Ratcliffe, Jonathan Schertzer, Michael Surette, Lehana Thebane

For more info

https://www.facebook.com/babyandmistudy/