Not one word about the role of bf in this.....

Anna Swisher
Austin, TX
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The URL is:
http://pediatrics.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2000/11/11.28/20001127clin018.ht
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Type of Intestinal Bacteria May Affect Humoral Immunity in Infants
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WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Nov 27 - The maturation of humoral immunity in
infants may depend on what types of bacteria colonize in their intestines as
well as on the timing of this colonization, according to study findings that
appear in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood, Fetal and Neonatal Edition.

The results may help explain why the rates of allergic diseases have been
rising at similar rates as sterile cesarean section deliveries, the
researchers suggest.

Dr. Minna-Maija Gronlund, of the Turku University Central Hospital in
Finland, and colleagues based their findings on 64 healthy full-term
infants.

At ages 3 to 5 days and at 1, 2 and 6 months, the researchers measured fecal
colonization with Bifidobacterium-like and Lactobacillus-like bacteria as
well as colonization with the Bacteroides fragilis group. Blood samples were
also collected at birth and at ages 2 and 6 months for analysis of
immunoglobulin-secreting cells.

In addition, to examine the relationship between diet and immunity, the
newborns' mothers kept diaries of what the infants consumed during their
first 2 months.

Intestinal colonization with B. fragilis was a greater predictor of elevated
levels of IgA-secreting and IgM-secreting cells than was intestinal
colonization with other bacteria or diet, Dr. Gronlund and colleagues
report. The highest number of IgA-secreting cells at 2 months and
IgM-secreting cells at 6 months occurred in infants who had B. fragilis
colonization at 1 to 2 months.

"To our knowledge, this is the first report of an association between
Bacteroides sp and maturation of humoral immunity in humans, and it provides
a fresh view of the role of these predominant bacteria of the human gut,"
the authors write.

"Our observations add an interesting facet to the discussion on the possible
protective role of microbial contacts in the prevention of allergic
diseases," the authors write.

They note that infants born via cesarean delivery were more likely to
experience a delay in intestinal colonization with B. fragilis. According to
Dr. Gronlund's team, "It may therefore be no coincidence that the incidence
of allergic diseases is increasing in parallel with the rate of sterile
cesarean sections."

Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2000;83:F186-F192.

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