Early introduction of complementary foods has been associated with various immune disorders, oxidative stress, and obesity in childhood. The gut microbiota and the short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) they produce are postulated to be on the causal pathway. The objective of this study was to determine if early complementary feeding (i.e. consumption of solids or non-water/formula liquids at or before 3 months) is prospectively associated with infant gut microbiota composition, diversity and SCFAs at 3 and 12 months of age in the Nurture birth cohort. Mother-infant dyads in the early complementary feeding group (n = 18) had similar baseline characteristics to those in the later feeding group (n = 49). We assessed differential abundance of microbial taxa (measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the V4 region) by timing of complementary feeding using beta-binomial regression models (considering a two-sided FDR corrected p-value of < 0.05 as significant), and we fittted linear regression models to assess the association between early complementary feeding and SCFA concentrations (quantified using gas chromatography). After multivariable adjustment for breastfeeding, delivery method, birth weight, and gestational age, there were 13 differentially abundant microbial amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) by timing of introduction to complementary foods at 3 months and 20 ASVs at 12 months. Infants introduced to complementary foods early (vs. later) had higher concentrations of the SCFA butyric acid (mean difference = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.27, 1.04, p < 0.01) and total SCFAs (mean difference = 38.8, 95% CI: 7.83, 69.7) at 12 months. Bilophila wadsworthia and Lachnospiraceae Roseburia were associated with early (vs. later) complementary feeding and with higher butyric acid concentrations at 3 and 12 months, respectively. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that early (vs. later) introduction to complementary foods is associated with altered gut microbiota composition and butyric acid concentrations measured in stool until at least 1 year of age. Further research is needed to determine if these changes mediate future development of metabolic and immune conditions.

中文翻译：

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添加辅食的时间与生命第一年的肠道微生物群多样性和组成以及短链脂肪酸浓度有关。


过早引入补充食品与儿童时期的各种免疫紊乱、氧化应激和肥胖有关。肠道微生物群和它们产生的短链脂肪酸 (SCFA) 被认为是因果途径。本研究的目的是确定早期辅食喂养（即 3 个月或之前摄入固体或非水/配方液体）是否与 3 个月和 12 个月大的婴儿肠道微生物群组成、多样性和 SCFA 存在前瞻性相关。培养出生队列。早期辅食喂养组 (n = 18) 中的母婴二人组与后期喂养组 (n = 49) 中的母婴二人组具有相似的基线特征。我们通过使用β-二项式回归模型的补充喂养时间来评估微生物类群的差异丰度（通过 V4 区域的 16S rRNA 基因测序来测量）（考虑到双边 FDR 校正 p 值 < 0.05 为显着），并且我们拟合线性回归模型来评估早期辅食喂养和 SCFA 浓度（使用气相色谱法定量）之间的关联。对母乳喂养、分娩方式、出生体重和胎龄进行多变量调整后，根据 3 个月时添加辅食的时间，有 13 个差异丰富的微生物扩增子序列变异体 (ASV)，在 12 个月时有 20 个 ASV。较早（与较晚）引入补充食品的婴儿具有较高浓度的 SCFA 丁酸（平均差异 = 0.65，95% CI：0.27、1.04，p < 0.01）和总 SCFA（平均差异 = 38.8，95% CI： 7.83, 69.7) 12 个月时。 Bilophila wadsworthia 和 Lachnospiraceae Roseburia 与早期（相对于早期）有关。 之后）分别在 3 个月和 12 个月时添加辅食并添加较高的丁酸浓度。我们的研究结果与以下假设一致：早期（相对较晚）添加辅食与肠道微生物群组成的改变以及至少一岁之前粪便中测得的丁酸浓度的改变有关。需要进一步的研究来确定这些变化是否会介导代谢和免疫状况的未来发展。