Abstract
Diet is a key factor that shapes the gut microbiome. Maternal diet has been proposed as a potential modulator of the human milk microbiome. However, the effect of diet during lactation on the maternal microbiota remains unclear. This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect of a two-week reduced fat and sugar and increased fibre maternal dietary intervention on the maternal faecal and milk microbiota. Faecal swabs and human milk samples were collected from mothers (n = 11) immediately pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 4- and 8-weeks post-intervention, and were analysed using full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The maternal macronutrient intake was assessed across one week prior to the intervention using 24 h dietary recall and during the intervention using FoodWorks 10 Software. The maternal fat and sugar intake significantly decreased from pre-intervention (fat: 120.9 ± 39.4 g; sugar: 114.1 ± 40.9 g) to the first (fat: 52.9 ± 4.3 g, p < 0.001; sugar: 83.2 ± 5.1 g, p = 0.005) and second week of the intervention (fat: 52.3 ± 6.2 g, p < 0.001; sugar: 82.7 ± 6.5 g, p = 0.005). The dietary fibre intake significantly increased from pre-intervention (28.8 ± 8.3 g) to the first week of the intervention (34.6 ± 2.8 g, p = 0.012) but was not different in the second week of the intervention compared to pre-intervention. Significant changes in the bacterial composition of maternal faeces were detected after the dietary intervention, with decreases in the relative abundance of Bacteroides caccae and increases in the relative abundance of Faecalibacillus intestinalis. In human milk, a significant increase in Cutibacterium acnes and a decrease in Haemophilus parainfluenzae were detected. Significant differences in maternal faecal and human milk bacterial composition were maintained 4 to 8 weeks after the intervention. This pilot study demonstrates that short-term changes in maternal diet during lactation can alter the maternal faecal and human milk microbiota.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, L.F.S., D.T.G., M.E.W., B.S.M., M.J.N. and M.S.P.; methodology, A.S.S., L.F.S., G.E.L. and Z.G.; software, G.E.L. and A.S.S.; validation, A.S.S.; formal analysis, M.L.T. and A.R.; investigation, A.S.S.; resources, M.S.P.; data curation, M.L.T., A.R. and A.S.S.; writing—original draft preparation, A.S.S.; writing—review and editing, L.F.S., M.E.W., B.S.M., M.J.N., G.E.L., Z.G., M.L.T., A.R., D.T.G. and M.S.P.; visualisation, A.S.S.; supervision, L.F.S., D.T.G., M.E.W., B.S.M., M.J.N. and M.S.P.; project administration, L.F.S., D.T.G. and M.S.P.; funding acquisition, D.T.G. and M.S.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
L.F.S., Z.G., and D.T.G. are supported by an unrestricted research grant from Medela AG (Switzerland), administered by The University of Western Australia. Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia provides a Ph.D. scholarship for A.S.S. M.S.P. is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas grant (APP #2010530). The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study, collection/analysis/interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
Institutional Review Board Statement
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (RA/4/20/4953), and registered on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619000606189).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
Data described in the manuscript are freely available without restriction at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA898341 accessed on 4 November 2022. All raw sequencing data have been deposited on NCBI’s Sequence Read Archive (accession number: PRJNA898341).
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge Kirsty O’Hehir for assistance with study recruitment and the implementation of the dietary intervention. We also would like to thank Ching Tat Lai for his help with statistical analysis.
Conflicts of Interest
D.T.G. declares participation in the Scientific Advisory Board of Medela AG. L.F.S., Z.G., and D.T.G. are supported by an unrestricted research grant from Medela AG, administered by The University of Western Australia. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.
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