title: Persistent effects of early infant diet and associated microbiota on the juvenile immune system.
abstract: Early infant diet has significant impacts on the gut microbiota and developing immune system. We previously showed that breast-fed and formula-fed rhesus macaques develop significantly different gut microbial communities, which in turn are associated with different immune systems in infancy. Breast-fed animals manifested greater T cell activation and proliferation and harbored robust pools of T helper 17 (TH17) cells. These differences were sustained throughout the first year of life. Here we examine groups of juvenile macaques (approximately 3 to 5 y old), which were breast-fed or formula-fed in infancy. We demonstrate that juveniles breast-fed in infancy maintain immunologic differences into the fifth year of life, principally in CD8(+) memory T cell activation. Additionally, long-term correlation networks show that breast-fed animals maintain persistent relationships between immune subsets that are not seen in formula-fed animals. These findings demonstrate that infant feeding practices have continued influence on immunity for up to 3 to 5 y after birth and also reveal mechanisms for microbial modulation of the immune system.
authors.affiliation: a California National Primate Research Center; University of California ; Davis , CA USA.
authors.forename: Nicole R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Narayan
authors.forename: Gema
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Méndez-Lagares
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ardeshir
authors.forename: Ding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Koen K A
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Van Rompay
authors.forename: Dennis J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hartigan-O'Connor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D004032:Diet / Q000379:methods*; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008895:Milk, Human
keywords: T cell activation; TH17 cells; breast-milk; gut microbiota; rhesus macaque