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Review
. 2014 Sep 5:5:427.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00427. eCollection 2014.

The intestinal microbiome in early life: health and disease

Marie-Claire Arrieta  1 , Leah T Stiemsma  2 , Nelly Amenyogbe  2 , Eric M Brown  1 , Brett Finlay  3
Affiliations
Review

The intestinal microbiome in early life: health and disease

Marie-Claire Arrieta et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Human microbial colonization begins at birth and continues to develop and modulate in species abundance for about 3 years, until the microbiota becomes adult-like. During the same time period, children experience significant developmental changes that influence their health status as well as their immune system. An ever-expanding number of articles associate several diseases with early-life imbalances of the gut microbiota, also referred to as gut microbial dysbiosis. Whether early-life dysbiosis precedes and plays a role in disease pathogenesis, or simply originates from the disease process itself is a question that is beginning to be answered in a few diseases, including IBD, obesity, and asthma. This review describes the gut microbiome structure and function during the formative first years of life, as well as the environmental factors that determine its composition. It also aims to discuss the recent advances in understanding the role of the early-life gut microbiota in the development of immune-mediated, metabolic, and neurological diseases. A greater understanding of how the early-life gut microbiota impacts our immune development could potentially lead to novel microbial-derived therapies that target disease prevention at an early age.

Keywords: child microbiota; immune-mediated disease; intestinal dysbiosis; intestinal microbiota; pediatric disease.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stages of microbial colonization of the infant and child intestine. Most abundant bacterial families are depicted in circles, where the size of the circle is proportional to the relative abundance of the bacterial taxa at each growth stage. The intestinal microbiota of the newborn is initially colonized by Enterobacteria. In the days after, strict anaerobic bacteria dominate the microbial community. During the first month, bifidobacterial species predominate in the gut, but the introduction of solid foods at around 4–6 months is accompanied by an expansion of clostridial species (Lachnospiracea, Clostridiaceae, and Ruminococcaceae). Members of the Ruminococcaceae family continue to increase in abundance in the following months. By 2–3 years of age, the microbiota composition consists of mainly Bacteroidaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Ruminococcaceae, which then remains stable into adulthood.
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