Why caesarean section babies could soon get this very unappetizing ‘shake’

As unpleasant as it may sound, babies born by caesarean section could benefit from a very unlikely one-time drink: breast milk mixed with a little bit of their mother’s feces.

In the first trial of its kind, scientists from Finland showed that a so-called ‘poo milkshake’ could introduce beneficial microorganisms into the intestines of surgically delivered newborns.

Babies born by caesarean section have a slightly increased risk of asthma, allergies and digestive tract infections in childhood and later in life, compared to babies born vaginally.

This is thought to be because they lack exposure to protective microbes from their mother’s intestines and vagina, which colonize the birth canal.

A groundbreaking 2019 study in the journal Nature found that the gut microbiome (the trillions of bacteria, fungi and viruses in the digestive tract) of vaginally delivered babies was virtually identical to their mother’s ‘good’ gut bacteria, but that of babies born through caesarean section had done so. more bacteria that are typically contracted in hospitals.

The gut microbiome has a profound impact on almost every aspect of human health, including digestion, immunity, metabolism, brain function, and development from birth.

“The microbiome communicates with the immune system, 70 percent of which is located in the gut, and produces small molecules – including short-chain fatty acids – that influence the immune system,” explains Dr. Lindsey Edwards, principal investigator at the Center for Host-Microbiome Interactions at King’s College London.

Rather than being exposed to their mother’s vaginal and intestinal microbes during delivery, C-section babies are often first exposed to skin microbes from healthcare workers or microbes circulating in the hospital environment that then colonize their intestines.”

They are not inherently bad, but they can cause an imbalance and reduced diversity of beneficial microbes,” says Dr. Edwards.

This can increase the risk of allergies, asthma, obesity and metabolic disorders later in life, she says.

However, breastfeeding and exposure to diverse environments can help restore a healthy microbiome over time.”

The Finnish study has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, but early findings presented at a recent medical conference in Los Angeles suggest that the ‘poo shake’ may increase levels of ‘good’ gut bacteria in babies born by caesarean section.

First, researchers at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki screened mothers’ feces for potentially harmful insects. Those who tested positive were excluded from the study.

Each sample was then diluted with a saline or glycerol solution, before the liquid was filtered to remove undigested food particles and other debris.

Fifteen newborn babies were randomly assigned to receive a one-time concoction of breast milk containing 3.5 milligrams of her treated poop sample during their first feeding. Another 16 were randomly assigned to a placebo.

Scientists then analyzed the babies’ stools and found that although they all had a similar mix of gut microbes on the day they were born, the ‘pooshake’ cohort was colonized by more gut microbes from their mothers on the second day.

The trial is ongoing and will follow the babies for two years.

The lead researcher, Otto Helve, director of the Department of Health Security at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, is keen to emphasize that this is not something parents should try at home.”

These new findings are exciting,” added Dr Edwards, who is also a Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at King’s College London.”

This study has enormous potential to dramatically reduce the incidence of these diseases.”

Dr. However, Edwards adds that the study is small and the concept needs to be tested on a much larger cohort to check whether the method is safe and useful.

It’s not just babies who could potentially benefit from this type of treatment, called fecal matter transplantation, or FMT.

It is already used on the NHS for patients suffering from persistent infection with the superbug Clostridium difficile, which can be resistant to antibiotics and causes severe inflammation in the gut.

If three different courses of antibiotics have failed, FMT can be offered.’

By the time you’ve had three courses of antibiotics, you’ve eradicated virtually all the beneficial types of bacteria in your gut,” says Dr. Edwards, who is currently involved in research to see if the same technique can treat some types. forms of liver disease.’

FMT introduces the diverse microbes of a healthy donor, restoring balance as the beneficial microbes outcompete C. diff for nutrients and space.”

She adds that it has a success rate of more than 90 percent for C. diff infections.

In some cases, FMT is offered as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis – although only a few centers in the UK currently have the facilities to carry out the procedure.

IBD and other chronic inflammatory conditions are thought to be linked to an imbalance of microbes in the gut, which compromises the immune system and can lead to widespread inflammation.

With FMT, microbes are taken from a donated stool sample that has been extensively screened for harmful insects. The microbes are then transferred into a liquid in the intestines during a colonoscopy (when a flexible tube with a camera on the end is inserted through the anus), or by swallowing a capsule.’

We think FMT has tremendous promise to address many chronic inflammatory diseases. Essentially, we’re trying to use it to reset the interaction between the gut microbiome and the immune system, to strengthen the immune system,” says Dr. Edwards.

‘We know it has positive effects in the short term, but we need to follow people who have been using it for a while to see if it really works in the long term and to make sure it is safe.’

FMT holds ‘significant promise’ for tackling a range of diseases, agrees Professor Lindsay Hall, chair of microbiome research at the University of Birmingham.’

But we need to delve deeper into understanding the specific microbes and mechanisms driving these effects,” she adds.

‘Ultimately, isolating and harnessing these important beneficial microbes could lead to more targeted, safer and scalable therapeutic approaches, making these treatments more practical for clinical use.

‘Because the ultimate goal is to stop using real poop altogether, says Dr. Edwards.

‘In the future, we ideally want to select only the beneficial species that we know can colonize the gut effectively, but we are not at that stage yet.’