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Age-associated effect of kestose on Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and symptoms in the atopic dermatitis infants
Yasuhiro Koga1, Shouji Tokunaga2, Jun Nagano3
1Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan.
Insights
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii levels in infants increase with age and are boosted by kestose. This prebiotic may improve atopic dermatitis symptoms in children by promoting beneficial gut bacteria growth.
Area of Science:
- Microbiome research
- Pediatric health
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is a key gut bacterium with anti-inflammatory properties.
- Its development and response to prebiotics in infants are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the development of F. prausnitzii in infants.
- To examine the effect of kestose, a fructooligosaccharide, on F. prausnitzii levels.
- To correlate F. prausnitzii changes with atopic dermatitis (AD) symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Real-time PCR was used to quantify F. prausnitzii in fecal samples.
- 65 infants with AD participated in a randomized controlled trial.
- Infants received oral kestose daily for 12 weeks.
Main Results:
- F. prausnitzii was largely undetectable in infants aged 0-1 year but comparable to adults in those aged 2-5 years.
- Kestose administration increased F. prausnitzii by approximately 10-fold in younger infants.
- The increase in F. prausnitzii correlated with improved AD symptoms in older infants.
Conclusions:
- F. prausnitzii intestinal populations reach adult levels around age 2.
- Kestose effectively promotes F. prausnitzii growth in the infant gut.
- This prebiotic-induced bacterial modulation may alleviate infant AD symptoms.
Background:
Although Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is a major bacterium in the intestine of adults, which is known to have anti-inflammatory effects, the development in infants or the response to prebiotics remains unclear.
Methods:
The counts of F. prausnitzii in the feces were examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fecal samples were obtained from 65 atopic dermatitis (AD) infants who participated in a randomized controlled clinical trial to investigate the therapeutic effect of kestose, the smallest fructooligosaccharide.
Results:
Although the F. prausnitzii count was undetectable level in most 0- to 1-y-old infants, the count reached a level comparable to that in adults in 2- to 5-y-old infants. The bacterial number increased about 10-fold by oral administration of kestose every day for 12 wk in the younger infants, but not so much in the older infants. This bacterial increase was significantly correlated with an improvement in the AD symptoms in the older infants.
Conclusion:
The F. prausnitzii population in the intestine reaches a level comparable to that in adult at approximately 2 y of age. Kestose efficiently stimulates the growth of this bacterium in the intestine, which might lead to an improvement in AD symptoms in infants.
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