Umbilical cord blood immune cell profiles in relation to the infant gut microbiome

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Microbiome Research
• Computational Biology

Background:

• The developing immune system and infant microbiome interact critically during early life.
• Understanding this interplay is essential for infant health and development.
• Early life immune cell composition may predict subsequent microbiome establishment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between blood immune cell composition at birth and the early infant gut microbiome.
• To identify specific microbial taxa associated with distinct immune cell profiles in newborns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized DNA methylation profiling of umbilical cord blood to infer birth immune cell composition.
• Assessed the early infant gut microbiome using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.
• Employed generalized estimating equations with false discovery rate control for statistical analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified significant associations between inferred immune cell types and gut microbial taxa.
• Observed a positive association between B cells and *Enterobacter*.
• Found a negative association between natural killer cells and *Bifidobacterium*, and a positive association between granulocytes and *Bifidobacterium*.

Conclusions:

• Immune cell profiles at birth, as inferred from umbilical cord blood, are associated with the developing infant gut microbiome.
• These findings provide insights into the early-life immune-microbiome axis.
• Suggests potential for early immune markers to predict microbiome composition.