title: Long-term monitoring of the human intestinal microbiota from the 2nd week to 13 years of age.
abstract: Microbial contact begins prior to birth and continues rapidly thereafter. Few long term follow-up studies have been reported and we therefore characterized the development of intestinal microbiota of ten subjects from the 2nd week of life to 13 years of age. PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis combined with several bacterial group-specific primer sets demonstrated the colonization steps of defined bacterial groups in the microbiota. Bifidobacterium species were seen throughout the test period in all subjects. Bacteroides fragilis group and Blautia coccoides-Eubacterium rectale group species were not detected in several subjects during the first 6 months of life but were commonly seen after 12 months of life. Streptococcus group appeared during early life but was not seen in several subjects at the age of 13 years. Although a few species were linked with the increasing age, major bacterial species in the groups did not change dramatically. Rather considerable changes were found in the relative abundances of each bacterial species. Clustering analysis of total bacterial flora indicated that the microbiota changed considerably between 6 months and 12 months of life, and, at the age of 12 months, the intestinal microbiota was already converted toward a profile characteristic of an adult microbiota. Probiotic supplementation in the beginning of life did not have major impacts on later microbiota development.
authors.affiliation: Functional Foods Forum, University of Turku, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4A, Turku 20014, Finland. Electronic address: akihito.endo@utu.fi.
authors.forename: Akihito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pӓrtty
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kalliomӓki
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isolauri
authors.affiliation: Functional Foods Forum, University of Turku, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4A, Turku 20014, Finland.
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salminen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058448:Biota; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Early life; Human intestinal microbiota; Long-term monitoring; Probiotics