Skip to main content
About the Institute
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • Russian
  • Portuguese
  • Polish

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Pediatrics
  3. Using meconium to predict allergy
  • Our publications
    • News
    • Microbiota Mag
    • Thematic folders
    • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
  • About the Institute
    • Partnerships
    • Press room
  • Congresses
    • Congress calendar
    • Congress reviews
  • Continuing Medical Education
    • Accrediting courses
    • Xpeer App
  • Useful documents
    • Infographic
    About the Institute

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Lay public section

Find here your dedicated section
Gastroenterology
Gynecology
Pediatrics
Dermatology

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Pediatrics
  3. Using meconium to predict allergy
Pediatrics

Using meconium to predict allergy

Allergies
Pediatrics Gastroenterology Dermatology

A less mature gut microbiota, affecting immune development, may result from intrauterine life. This finding may lead to the early identification of infants at risk of allergy and may even help us better prevent the development of allergic sensitization.

Gastroenterology
Gynecology
Pediatrics
Dermatology
  • Our publications
    • News
    • Microbiota Mag
    • Thematic folders
    • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
  • About the Institute
    • Partnerships
    • Press room
  • Congresses
    • Congress calendar
    • Congress reviews
  • Continuing Medical Education
    • Accrediting courses
    • Xpeer App
  • Useful documents
    • Infographic
    About the Institute

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Lay public section

Find here your dedicated section

Sources

This article is based on scientific information

Sharing is caring

Your colleagues might be interested in this topic. Why not share it?

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail

About this article

Created 25 November 2021
Updated 18 January 2022

Gut microbiota maturation begins immediately after birth. This maturation continues through the first few years of life, in parallel with that of the immune system. Gut microbiota maturation and immune development are both implicated in allergic diseases, with prenatal factors suspected in each case. Meconium, the first stool of an infant after birth, contains metabolites produced in utero. It reflects perinatal influences, since it begins forming by gestational week 16, while it also contains the starting material for the initial microbiota. Hence this study attempted to link metabolic signatures within the meconium, microbiota maturation and immune system development.

Less maturation, more atopy

After analyzing (via 16S rRNA sequencing) stool collected at 3 months and 1 year from 950 children in the (sidenote: Canadian CHILD Cohort Study Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development study, a prospective study of children recruited before birth between 2008 and 2012 ) cohort, the researchers made a first discovery: the gut microbiota of the future allergic children was less mature, even before the appearance of the atopy. Thus, the 212 infants who subsequently developed atopy at 1 year of age had a less mature microbiota at 3 months than those who did not become atopic. The relative abundance of 13 of the 15 taxa most involved in maturation of the microbiota was lower in atopic infants.

Influence of prenatal exposures

To understand the origin of this difference in maturation, the researchers went back in time and analyzed meconium samples in a subgroup of 100 children. They observed lower bacterial diversity in the future atopic children. Metabolic diversity was also reduced, with fewer molecules associated with the metabolism of amino acids, vitamins and hormones. This suggests that differences influencing the development of the microbiota and, ultimately, immune development, exist from birth. Thus, atopy at 1 year of age is associated both with a metabolically less rich meconium at birth and with a reduction in the diversity and maturation of the microbiota at the beginning of life. A potential mechanism of action is suggested: meconium metabolites, which reflect prenatal exposures, may be metabolized and fermented by bacteria. Thus, the gut microbiota at the beginning of life, and ultimately immune development, would be impacted by intrauterine life.

Meconium is not sterile:

Actu PRO : Microbiote fœtal : la fin d’une controverse ? 14.01.2020 Fetal microbiota: the end of a controversy? Read more

Prevent... and predict?

A better understanding of the prenatal determinants of meconium composition, and of the direct and indirect effects of its metabolites on immune development and bacterial colonization in newborns, may ultimately help prevent the development of allergies. It may even allow us to predict – via metabolic signatures – the risk of developing allergies, even if the researchers’ first studies (combining meconium data and clinical data from mother and child) gave results that are certainly encouraging but still far from precise.

Sources
  1. Petersen C, Dai DLY, Boutin RCT et al. A rich meconium metabolome in human infants is associated with early-life gut microbiota composition and reduced allergic sensitization. Cell Rep Med. 2021 Apr 29;2(5):100260.
Tags
Intestinal microbiota Infant Allergy Meconium Immune system

en_view en_sources

    Created 25 November 2021
    Updated 18 January 2022

    About this article

    To know more about this topic.

    Main topic

    Allergies

    Medical practice

    Pediatrics Gastroenterology Dermatology

    Content type

    News

    Continue reading

    News
    22.11.2021

    Irritable bowel syndrome: is fecal microbiota transplantation effective in the long term?

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL Mexico 2019
    10.06.2022

    Pr. Moisés Alvarez (Mexican winner 2019): Microbiota & colorectal cancer

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL USA 2017
    17.06.2022

    Dr. Singh (USA winner 2017): Microbiota & polyphenols

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL USA 2021
    16.06.2022

    Dr. Queen (USA winner 2020): Microbiota & colorectal cancer

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL USA 2022
    16.06.2022

    Dr. Brown (USA winner 2021): Microbiota & respiratory syncitial virus infection

    Read the article
    31.05.2022

    Pr. Maslennikov (Russian winner 2019): Probiotics & cirrhosis

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL Russia 2020
    15.06.2022

    Pr. Shifrin (Russian winner 2020): Gut microbiota & antibiotics

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL Russia 2021
    15.06.2022

    Pr. Volynets (Russian winner 2021): Gut microbiota & hepatobiliary chronic diseases

    Read the article
    What's worth reading about microbiota
    Follow us on Twitter
    Read our thematic folder
    The Janus face of Antibiotics: Life Savers & Microbiota Disrupters
    NL13_cover
    Check out latest newsletter
    IBS, Microbiota & Covid-19
    • Our publications
      • News
      • Microbiota Mag
      • Thematic folders
      • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
    • About the Institute
      • Partnerships
      • Press room
    • Congresses
      • Congress calendar
      • Congress reviews
    • Continuing Medical Education
      • Accrediting courses
      • Xpeer App
    • Useful documents
      • Infographic
      About the Institute

      Join the microbiota community

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section
    Gastroenterology
    Gynecology
    Pediatrics
    Dermatology
    • English
    • Français
    • Español
    • Russian
    • Portuguese
    • Polish

    Browse the site

    • Our publications
      • News
      • Microbiota Mag
      • Thematic folders
      • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
    • About the Institute
      • Partnerships
      • Press room
    • Congresses
      • Congress calendar
      • Congress reviews
    • Continuing Medical Education
      • Accrediting courses
      • Xpeer App
    • Useful documents
      • Infographic
      About the Institute

      Join the microbiota community

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Discover

    Gastroenterology
    Gynecology
    Pediatrics
    Dermatology

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Redirection

    You are about to be redirected and leave our website

    • Be redirected
    • Stay on the Biocodex Microbiota Institute's website

    Stay with us !

    Join the Microbiota Community of HCPs and researchers and receive once a month the “Microbiota Digest” to stay up to date on the latest news about microbiota.

    * Mandatory Fields

    BMI 20-35

    Explore

    Photo: Postménopause : l'action bénéfique de l'estradiol sur le microbiote vaginal
    22.06.2022

    Postmenopause: the beneficial action of estradiol on the vaginal microbiota

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL USA 2018
    17.06.2022

    Dr. Yang (USA winner 2018): Gut microbiota & gut brain axis

    Read the article
    WMD_Foundation KOL USA 2017
    17.06.2022

    Dr. Singh (USA winner 2017): Microbiota & polyphenols

    Read the article

    Stay updated

    Join the Microbiota Community of HCPs and researchers and receive once a month the “Microbiota Digest” to stay up to date on the latest news about microbiota.

    * Mandatory Fields

    BMI 20-35

    • Our publications
      • News
      • Microbiota Mag
      • Thematic folders
      • Overviews - Microbiota Magazine
    • About the Institute
      • Partnerships
      • Press room
    • Congresses
      • Congress calendar
      • Congress reviews
    • Continuing Medical Education
      • Accrediting courses
      • Xpeer App
    • Useful documents
      • Infographic
      About the Institute

      Join the microbiota community

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • YouTube

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Discover

    Gastroenterology
    Gynecology
    Pediatrics
    Dermatology

    Lay public section

    Find here your dedicated section

    Join the microbiota community

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    © 2022 Biocodex. All rights reserved.

    • Cookies Policy
    • Data protection policy
    • GTU
    • Sitemap
    • Cookies settings
    Biocodex logo