1. Maternal Prebiotic Ingestion Increased the Number of Fecal Bifidobacteria in Pregnant Women but Not in Their Neonates Aged One Month
- Author
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Takayasu Arima, Takayuki Toshimitsu, Takayuki Kubota, Yoshinori Morita, Shinji Jinno, Taiji Nakano, Naoki Shimojo, Kentaro Masuda, Shuichi Suzuki, Fumiya Yamaide, Naoko Ozawa, Yoshitaka Nakamura, Yuka Igoshi, and Yoichi Kohno
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,DNA, Bacterial ,fructooligosaccharides ,Bifidobacterium longum ,Constipation ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Physiology ,Oligosaccharides ,lcsh:TX341-641 ,bifidobacteria ,stool frequency ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Feces ,0302 clinical medicine ,fluids and secretions ,Double-Blind Method ,Pregnancy ,medicine ,Ingestion ,Humans ,infancy ,Bifidobacterium ,Nutrition and Dietetics ,biology ,business.industry ,Prebiotic ,Infant, Newborn ,constipation ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,feces ,pregnancy ,prebiotic ,030104 developmental biology ,Prebiotics ,Immunology ,Gestation ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,business ,lcsh:Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,Food Science - Abstract
Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) can selectively stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria. Here, we investigated the effect of maternal FOS ingestion on maternal and neonatal gut bifidobacteria. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we administered 8 g/day of FOS or sucrose to 84 women from the 26th week of gestation to one month after delivery. The bifidobacteria count was detected using quantitative PCR in maternal (26 and 36 weeks of gestation) and neonatal (one month after delivery) stools. Maternal stool frequency was recorded from 24 to 36 weeks of gestation. The number of fecal Bifidobacterium spp. and Bifidobacterium longum in the FOS group was significantly higher than that in the placebo group at 36 weeks of gestation (2.7 × 1010/g vs. 1.1 × 1010/g and 2.3 × 1010/g vs. 9.7 × 109/g). In their neonates, these numbers did not differ between the groups. Also, stool frequency in the FOS group was slightly higher than that in the placebo group two weeks after the intervention (1.0 vs. 0.8 times/day), suggesting a potential constipation alleviation effect. In conclusion, the maternal FOS ingestion showed a bifidogenic effect in pregnant women but not in their neonates.
- Published
- 2016