In Vitro Probiotic Modulation of Specific Dietary Complex Sugar Consumption in Fecal Cultures in Infants

Abstract

Establishing the relative stability of the gastrointestinal microbiome after birth is a long and complex process, and it occurs under various influences. The human gut microbiome plays a crucial role in influencing an individual’s health and well-being across all stages of life. Breastfeeding, the introduction of solid food at a certain stage after birth, and the type of food largely determine the composition of the developing microbiome. The influence of probiotics on the early development of the microbiome is gaining increasing interest. The method of in vitro co-cultivation with probiotic strains provides a clearer picture of the influence of these microorganisms on the community and the functional changes that the infant’s microbiome undergoes. We used fecal samples to study this influence by conducting metagenomic sequencing to determine the composition of the microbiome and a series of cultivations to determine the absorption of various fibers and prebiotic sugars from breast milk. We found statistically significant differences in the absorption of prebiotic sugars isolated from breast milk, as well as better absorption of several substrates in the presence of a probiotic strain.