Microbial Community Structure of Colostrum in Women with Antibiotic Exposure Immediately After Delivery

The microbial community in human milk is associated with many maternal and neonatal factors. This study aimed to investigate the effect of antibiotic exposure on the microbial community structure of colostrum. Twenty women with antibiotic treatment immediately after delivery and 10 age-matched control women were enrolled at the Guangdong Women and Children Hospital. Colostrum samples were collected within postpartum 30 hours. The V4 variable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was sequenced to characterize the microbial profile using Illumina MiSeq platform. Phyla Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the predominant bacteria in colostrum samples. The core and abundant genera in colostrum included Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Pseudomonas. Compared with the control group, principal coordinate analysis based on the Bray-Curtis distance showed a significant difference in milk microbial community in women with antibiotic exposure, accompanied by a significantly lower alpha diversity and a different microbial ecological network. Furthermore, the relative abundances of genera Actinomyces, Anaerobacter, and Clostridium_sensu_stricto significantly decreased after antibiotic treatment. This study provided evidence of alterations in the colostrum microbial community with antibiotic exposure, improving our understanding of the effects of antibiotic treatment on the milk microbiome.