1. A Listeria monocytogenes clone in human breast milk associated with severe acute malnutrition in West Africa: A multicentric case-controlled study
- Author
-
Ludivine Brechard, Anthony Levasseur, Vincent Bossi, Cheikh Sokhna, Saber Khelaifia, Jeremy Delerce, Hubert Bassene, Didier Raoult, Matthieu Million, Marièma Sarr, Maryam Tidjani Alou, Babacar Mbaye, Nafissatou Diagne, Aldiouma Diallo, Jean-Christophe Lagier, Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection (IHU Marseille), Microbes évolution phylogénie et infections (MEPHI), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Maladies infectieuses persistantes et émergentes en Afrique de l’Ouest [Dakar, Sénégal] (Equipe 3 - VITROME), Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes (VITROME), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge] (IRBA)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge] (IRBA), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge] (IRBA), ANR-10-IAHU-0003,Méditerranée Infection,I.H.U. Méditerranée Infection(2010), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA), and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA)
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Male ,Physiology ,RC955-962 ,Breastfeeding ,medicine.disease_cause ,Pathology and Laboratory Medicine ,Pediatrics ,Families ,[SDV.MHEP.MI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Infectious diseases ,Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine ,Lactobacillus ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,Medicine and Health Sciences ,Listeriosis ,Public and Occupational Health ,Breast Milk ,Children ,DNA extraction ,2. Zero hunger ,[SDV.MHEP.ME]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Emerging diseases ,biology ,Streptococcus ,Child Health ,Proteases ,Senegal ,3. Good health ,Bacterial Pathogens ,Body Fluids ,Infectious Diseases ,Milk ,Medical Microbiology ,Child, Preschool ,[SDV.MP.VIR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Virology ,Female ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 ,Pathogens ,Anatomy ,Research Article ,Adult ,030106 microbiology ,Severe Acute Malnutrition ,Breast milk ,Microbiology ,Beverages ,03 medical and health sciences ,Extraction techniques ,[SDV.MHEP.CSC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Cardiology and cardiovascular system ,Listeria monocytogenes ,medicine ,Humans ,[SDV.MP.PAR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Parasitology ,Microbial Pathogens ,Nutrition ,Milk, Human ,Bacteria ,Malnutrition ,Gut Bacteria ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Case-control study ,Organisms ,Infant ,Biology and Life Sciences ,biology.organism_classification ,Listeria Monocytogenes ,[SDV.MP.BAC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Bacteriology ,Diet ,Research and analysis methods ,030104 developmental biology ,Carriage ,Age Groups ,Case-Control Studies ,People and Places ,Population Groupings - Abstract
Background Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is a major public health problem affecting children under the age of five in many low- and middle-income countries, and its resolution would contribute towards achieving the several sustainable development goals. The etiology of SAM is pluri-factorial, including delayed maturation of the gut microbiota, suboptimal feeding practices and dysfunctional breastfeeding. The recent serendipitous detection of Listeria monocytogenes in the breast milk of Malian women, in contrast to French women, suggests a possible association with SAM. Methodology/ Principal findings To investigate the possible association of L. monocytogenes carriage in breast milk and SAM, a case-control study was performed in Senegal, with subjects recruited from two areas. Using 16S amplicon sequencing, a culture independent method, 100% (152/152) of the mothers were positive for L. monocytogenes in their breast milk while qPCR analysis gave lower recovery rates. Interestingly, after enrichment in Fraser broth and seeding on PALCALM agar, all 10 isolated strains were isolated from the milk of 10 mothers who had SAM children which also had a significantly increased relative abundance of L. monocytogenes (0.34 (SD 0.35) vs 0.05 (SD 0.07) in controls, p, Author summary Severe acute malnutrition is a global public health issue which greatly impacts childhood mortality rates. Although still not fully understood, the multi-factorial pathology of severe acute malnutrition has been associated, among other factors, with sub-optimal feeding practices (including dysfunctional breastfeeding) and an altered gut microbiota. The serendipitous detection of Listeria monocytogenes in the breast milk of Malian women has raised the possibility of its involvement in the pathogenesis of severe acute malnutrition. To investigate this possibility, the presence of L. monocytogenes was assessed in a cohort of lactating Senegalese women, both mothers of healthy children as well as those of severely malnourished children using culture-dependent and independent methods. Our study confirms the previously unsuspected presence of L. monocytogenes in the breast milk of Senegalese women, which is increased in the milk of mothers of severely malnourished children. Moreover, breast milk samples from the mothers of healthy children more frequently induced a potent inhibition of L. monocytogenes than those from the mothers of severely malnourished children. An inhibition was also achieved using potential probiotics, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus species, isolated from breast milk. Our study reveals the previously unsuspected carriage of L. monocytogenes in the breast milk of West African women, which is associated with severe acute malnutrition. The inhibitory effect of human selected lactic acid bacterial species against L. monocytogenes might provide new therapeutic and inexpensive options to prevent and treat this neglected public health issue.
- Published
- 2021