Congratulations to our Platform 2 Lead Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj on this recent publication!
Studying 1,157 mother-infant pairs of the CHILD Cohort, researchers unravel a possible link between vitamin D supplementation during early-life and protection against C. difficile infection. Vit-D supplementation was also observed to be associated with a lower level of a specific bacterium Megamonas. Megamonas has been shown to be involved in asthma and respiratory viral infections, suggesting other potential benefits for vitamin D such as lowering the risk of viral infections in life. This study is leading the field to new investigations.
Abstract
In Canada and the US, the infant diet is supplemented with vitamin D via supplement drops or formula. Pregnant and nursing mothers often take vitamin D supplements. Since little is known about the impact of this supplementation on infant gut microbiota, we undertook a study to determine the association between maternal and infant vitamin D supplementation, infant gut microbiota composition and Clostridioides difficile colonization in 1,157 mother-infant pairs of the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) Cohort Study over 2009–2012. Logistic and MaAsLin regression were employed to assess associations between vitamin D supplementation, and C. difficile colonization, or other gut microbiota, respectively. Sixty-five percent of infants received a vitamin D supplement. Among all infants, infant vitamin D supplementation was associated with a lower abundance of genus Megamonas (q = 0.01) in gut microbiota. Among those exclusively breastfed, maternal prenatal supplementation was associated with lower abundance of Bilophila (q = 0.01) and of Lachnospiraceae (q = 0.02) but higher abundance of Haemophilus (q = 0.02). There were no differences in microbiota composition with vitamin D supplementation among partially and not breastfed infants. Neither infant nor maternal vitamin D supplementation were associated with C. difficile colonization, after adjusting for breastfeeding status and other factors. However, maternal consumption of vitamin-D fortified milk reduced the likelihood of C. difficile colonization in infants (adjustedOR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.19–0.82). The impact of this compositional difference on later childhood health, especially defense against viral respiratory infection, may go beyond the expected effects of vitamin D supplements and remains to be ascertained.
Get insights from the authors in the press release and discover the research here.
Publication: Vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy and early infancy in relation to gut microbiota composition and C. difficile colonization: implications for viral respiratory infections. Drall KM, Field CJ, Haqq AM, de Souza RJ, Tun HM, Morales-Lizcano NP, Konya TB, Guttman DS, Azad MB, Becker AB, Lefebvre DL, Mandane PJ, Moraes TJ, Sears MR, Turvey SE, Subbarao P, Scott JA, Kozyrskyj AL. Gut Microbes. 11 August 2020.
