Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Analysis of Interactions between Endobiotics and Human Gut Microbiota Using In Vitro Bath Fermentation Systems
Published on: August 23, 2019
Integrated Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Metabolome Profiling Reveals the Effects of Feeding Approaches on Infants'
Simin Zhu1, Wenjuan Tu1, Wenting Zhang2
1Center for Children's Health Promotion Affiliated Changzhou Children's Hospital of Nantong University Changzhou Jiangsu China.
Abstract:
Breast milk can improve infant health by exerting beneficial effects on the developing gut microbiota and metabolites. However, infant formula composition undergoes continual refinement to better approximate breast milk. This study aimed to timely monitor the evolving disparities in the gut microenvironment between breastfed (BF) and formula-fed (FF) infants. This prospective cohort study enrolled 44 healthy infants at 6 months of age, stratified by infant feeding modality into BF (n = 27) and FF (n = 17) groups. Fecal samples of all infants were collected and tested. Fecal microbiota was tested via full-length 16S rRNA sequencing, and fecal metabolites were tested via untargeted UPLC-MS/MS metabolomics. Associations between gut microbiota and metabolites were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation test. Bacterial full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis revealed that Escherichia, Staphylococcus, Haemophilus, and Rothia were more enriched in the BF group, but Enterococcus and Mediterraneibacter were more enriched in the FF group conversely (p < 0.05). UPLC-MS/MS metabolomic profiling revealed 600 dysregulated metabolites (p < 0.05) discriminating BF and FF infants, with 225 metabolites up-regulated and 375 metabolites down-regulated in the BF group. Further analysis of the significantly differential metabolites of the top 100 Variable Importance in Projection (VIP) revealed that 12 metabolites could be mapped onto Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database (KEGG) pathways, in which the metabolites were mostly mapped onto Arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism and were down-regulated in the BF group, including Thromboxane B2 (TXB2), 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoid acid (HETE), (15S)-Prostaglandin A2 (PGA2), and 11-dehydro-TXB2. Breastfeeding establishes a distinct ecological imprinting on the infant gut, promoting specific taxa and downregulating pro-inflammatory fecal AA metabolites. These disparities suggest breastfeeding uniquely modulates the microbial-metabolic axis to maintain a lower inflammatory tone, offering immunological advantages despite modern formula innovations.
More Related Videos
07:15An In Vitro Batch-culture Model to Estimate the Effects of Interventional Regimens on Human Fecal Microbiota
Published on: July 31, 2019
08:33Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction-based Analyses of Murine Intestinal Microbiota After Oral Antibiotic Treatment
Published on: November 17, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Development of Human Microbiota
Anatomy of the Intestines
Small Intestines
The small intestine is an ~7 meter-long tube with an inner diameter of just 2.5 cm. Since most nutrients are absorbed here, the inner lining of the...
Introduction to the Human Microbiota
Gut-Brain Axis
Development of the Oral Microbiota
Functions of the Gut Microbiota