Browsing by Subject "infant"
Now showing items 1-9 of 9
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(2024)Background: The infant gut microbiome undergoes major temporal changes in the first year of life, crucial for supporting normal development and long-term health. The immense diversity of fiber structures in breast milk and later in solid foods pose unique selection pressures on the gut microbiome maturation by providing novel substrates for the microbiota. However, the longitudinal impact of complementary food-derived fibers on the taxonomic and functional maturation of the gut microbiome during the gradual transition from breast milk to solid foods is not well understood. Objectives: My objective was to examine how breast milk, its fiber and complementary food fibers in the broader context of overall infant diet may affect the gut microbiome bacterial species composition and support age-appropriate gut bacterial maturation trajectories during first year of life. Methods: Longitudinal and cross-sectional development of 68 infant gut microbiomes and 33 metabolomes were examined with linear mixed models to determine the impact of infant nutrition on gut microbiome taxa and functional development. Nutrition assessments were based on detailed quantitative weighted 3-day food records (months 3,6,9,12) and the intakes of total dietary fiber with its food sources and fiber fractions relied on current internationally approved CODEX-compliant values. Questionnaires were utilized to monitor when various complementary foods were introduced, enabling more comprehensive nutritional analyses. Bacterial species identification was based on MetaPhlAn2 quantification of bacterial species from metagenomic data and metabolomic profiles were generated using four liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods. Results: My examinations place the previously described sequential trajectories in infant gut microbiome maturation into detailed fiber-dependent nutritional context relying on metagenomic species identification. I discovered 176 complementary food derived fiber-bacterial species associations. The majority of the associations (147, 84%) were positive whereas breastfeeding and related variables tended to be inversely associated with the same species, showing strongest inverse correlations to later trajectory species indicative of slower maturation. Both bacterial species and metabolomic profiles displayed pronounced longitudinal shifts in response to solid food fibers. Each introduction of novel dietary source of fiber associated to diversification of the microbiome revealing fiber-species specific temporal patterns. Conclusions: The longitudinal analyses highlight that sufficient fiber intake from appropriate sources during the weaning period likely function to build capacity for the species permanence in the more diverse and stable mature gut microbiome composition and function reached in later childhood.
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(2024)Background: The infant gut microbiome undergoes major temporal changes in the first year of life, crucial for supporting normal development and long-term health. The immense diversity of fiber structures in breast milk and later in solid foods pose unique selection pressures on the gut microbiome maturation by providing novel substrates for the microbiota. However, the longitudinal impact of complementary food-derived fibers on the taxonomic and functional maturation of the gut microbiome during the gradual transition from breast milk to solid foods is not well understood. Objectives: My objective was to examine how breast milk, its fiber and complementary food fibers in the broader context of overall infant diet may affect the gut microbiome bacterial species composition and support age-appropriate gut bacterial maturation trajectories during first year of life. Methods: Longitudinal and cross-sectional development of 68 infant gut microbiomes and 33 metabolomes were examined with linear mixed models to determine the impact of infant nutrition on gut microbiome taxa and functional development. Nutrition assessments were based on detailed quantitative weighted 3-day food records (months 3,6,9,12) and the intakes of total dietary fiber with its food sources and fiber fractions relied on current internationally approved CODEX-compliant values. Questionnaires were utilized to monitor when various complementary foods were introduced, enabling more comprehensive nutritional analyses. Bacterial species identification was based on MetaPhlAn2 quantification of bacterial species from metagenomic data and metabolomic profiles were generated using four liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods. Results: My examinations place the previously described sequential trajectories in infant gut microbiome maturation into detailed fiber-dependent nutritional context relying on metagenomic species identification. I discovered 176 complementary food derived fiber-bacterial species associations. The majority of the associations (147, 84%) were positive whereas breastfeeding and related variables tended to be inversely associated with the same species, showing strongest inverse correlations to later trajectory species indicative of slower maturation. Both bacterial species and metabolomic profiles displayed pronounced longitudinal shifts in response to solid food fibers. Each introduction of novel dietary source of fiber associated to diversification of the microbiome revealing fiber-species specific temporal patterns. Conclusions: The longitudinal analyses highlight that sufficient fiber intake from appropriate sources during the weaning period likely function to build capacity for the species permanence in the more diverse and stable mature gut microbiome composition and function reached in later childhood.
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(2020)Objectives: Early recognition of developmental challenges in infancy is central for being able to start interventions earlier with possible better outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of using eye-tracking at seven months to predict adaptive behavior outcomes at two years. Adaptive behavior implies the child's adaptation to their specific living environment and it includes aspects of conceptual, social and practical adaptation. Here, I studied several eye-tracking based markers of visual attention in infancy for their possible association with adaptive behavior at two years, such as saccadic reaction time (SRT) and measures of attentional preference for faces and emotional facial expressions. SRT has been shown to be a general attentional marker in infancy associated with many developmental and clinical aspects while attentional preference for faces and emotional facial expressions are pronounced at seven months and have been hypothesized to play a role in socio-emotional development. Infants were also studied with respect to attentional behavioral tendencies based on their SRT measures. Methods: This study employed material from the Toibilas-study at BABA center at Helsinki University Hospital. The study consisted of 45 children of either typical development (n=26) or children of high developmental risk (n=19) due to their prior treatment at the neonatal intensive care unit. The high-risk group was assumed to increase variability of the sample. Infants participated in eye-tracking measurements at seven months old using two different eye-tracking paradigms; a SRT task and a task measuring attentional bias for facial vs. non-facial as well as emotional facial expressions vs. neutral facial expressions. The same children were assessed for adaptive behavior at two years of age by a parent filled-questionnaire. Associations between attentional behavioral markers at seven months and adaptive behavior at two years were analyzed using linear models. The models also accounted for behavioral attentional tendency as identified from a set of SRT measures. Results and conclusions: A bigger attentional preference for faces compared to non-faces was associated with better overall adaptive behavior score as well as adaptive behavior composites for conceptual and practical adaptive behavior. This is in line with the hypothesis that attentional bias for faces is important for socio-emotional development. A significant association between identified behavioral attentional tendencies and the conceptual composite score of adaptive behavior was found. This finding suggests that recognizing attentional tendency may be useful for predicting later developmental trajectories. The present work provides preliminary evidence for the proof of principle that eye-tracking based metrics may provide clinically relevant predictions in infants, however novel prospective datasets are needed for clinical validation.
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(2020)Objectives: Early recognition of developmental challenges in infancy is central for being able to start interventions earlier with possible better outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of using eye-tracking at seven months to predict adaptive behavior outcomes at two years. Adaptive behavior implies the child's adaptation to their specific living environment and it includes aspects of conceptual, social and practical adaptation. Here, I studied several eye-tracking based markers of visual attention in infancy for their possible association with adaptive behavior at two years, such as saccadic reaction time (SRT) and measures of attentional preference for faces and emotional facial expressions. SRT has been shown to be a general attentional marker in infancy associated with many developmental and clinical aspects while attentional preference for faces and emotional facial expressions are pronounced at seven months and have been hypothesized to play a role in socio-emotional development. Infants were also studied with respect to attentional behavioral tendencies based on their SRT measures. Methods: This study employed material from the Toibilas-study at BABA center at Helsinki University Hospital. The study consisted of 45 children of either typical development (n=26) or children of high developmental risk (n=19) due to their prior treatment at the neonatal intensive care unit. The high-risk group was assumed to increase variability of the sample. Infants participated in eye-tracking measurements at seven months old using two different eye-tracking paradigms; a SRT task and a task measuring attentional bias for facial vs. non-facial as well as emotional facial expressions vs. neutral facial expressions. The same children were assessed for adaptive behavior at two years of age by a parent filled-questionnaire. Associations between attentional behavioral markers at seven months and adaptive behavior at two years were analyzed using linear models. The models also accounted for behavioral attentional tendency as identified from a set of SRT measures. Results and conclusions: A bigger attentional preference for faces compared to non-faces was associated with better overall adaptive behavior score as well as adaptive behavior composites for conceptual and practical adaptive behavior. This is in line with the hypothesis that attentional bias for faces is important for socio-emotional development. A significant association between identified behavioral attentional tendencies and the conceptual composite score of adaptive behavior was found. This finding suggests that recognizing attentional tendency may be useful for predicting later developmental trajectories. The present work provides preliminary evidence for the proof of principle that eye-tracking based metrics may provide clinically relevant predictions in infants, however novel prospective datasets are needed for clinical validation.
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(2019)Sleep is one of the most vital functions of newborns and infants, and it is essential for neuronal network development. Therefore, long-term sleep disturbances have been associated with growth delays and behavioral disorders. Commonly reported infant sleep disturbances, such as night awakenings and difficulties falling asleep, cause distress to parents. Yet, the development of infant sleep in the home environment has not been fully elucidated due to lack of objective measurement parameters. In the current study, we assessed the feasibility of a motion sensor, attached to wearable pants, and ECG textile electrodes to monitor sleep-related respiration and heart rate of newborns and infants. First, we compared signals recorded by the motion sensor’s measurement channels to the standard respiratory piezo effort belt’s signal during daytime EEG recordings. According to our results, the motion sensor’s gyroscope proved to measure respiratory rate most accurately, while the ECG signal transmitted by the sensor was reliable in interpretable sections. We then provided wearable garments and smartphones to families with infants to assess overnight home-use. Our results indicate that different sleep states could likely be identified based on respiration fluctuation visible in the gyroscope’s signals. Moreover, the wearable system was considered practical and easy to use by the parents. Future studies should focus on validating the sensor with clinically approved measures, in order to train the algorithms to automatically identify different sleep-wake states. By doing so, the wearable sensor could provide information on natural infant sleep structure development over long time periods. Additionally, clinical validation of the sensor may result in the development of a companion diagnostic tool for infant cardiorespiratory and movement disorders.
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(2020)OBJECTIVES. The association between prenatal maternal stress and adverse health and developmental offspring outcomes has been long known but explanations for this association remain insufficient. One of the most recent suggestions is gut microbiota. Only a few studies with many limitations have concentrated on the association between prenatal stress and offspring gut microbiota. The aim of this study is to conduct a large scale study with follow-up covering the whole infancy, and to test whether the association differs between girls and boys. METHODS. This study’s sample consists of 825 mothers and their infants from HELMi cohort. Prenatal maternal stress is measured with self-report questionnaire, and infant gut microbiota from fecal samples. 16S rRNA sequencing is used in analyzing the microbiota. RESULTS. High stress group had lower alpha-diversity than low stress group at 3 weeks. No differences were found in richness and beta-diversity. Several phylum, family, and genus level bacteria were associated with prenatal stress. Regarding sex differences, no differences were found in richness or in alpha- or beta-diversity. However, in phylum, family, and genus level bacterial relative abundances, more associations were found in boys than in girls. CONCLUSION. Overall the findings in this study were contradicting compared to previous findings. There was indication that there is no clear association between prenatal stress and infant overall microbiota composition. Also, the association regarding bacterial abundances could decline over age, and the association might be stronger in boys. However, not very consistent conclusions can be made based on research conducted so far.
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(2020)OBJECTIVES. The association between prenatal maternal stress and adverse health and developmental offspring outcomes has been long known but explanations for this association remain insufficient. One of the most recent suggestions is gut microbiota. Only a few studies with many limitations have concentrated on the association between prenatal stress and offspring gut microbiota. The aim of this study is to conduct a large scale study with follow-up covering the whole infancy, and to test whether the association differs between girls and boys. METHODS. This study’s sample consists of 825 mothers and their infants from HELMi cohort. Prenatal maternal stress is measured with self-report questionnaire, and infant gut microbiota from fecal samples. 16S rRNA sequencing is used in analyzing the microbiota. RESULTS. High stress group had lower alpha-diversity than low stress group at 3 weeks. No differences were found in richness and beta-diversity. Several phylum, family, and genus level bacteria were associated with prenatal stress. Regarding sex differences, no differences were found in richness or in alpha- or beta-diversity. However, in phylum, family, and genus level bacterial relative abundances, more associations were found in boys than in girls. CONCLUSION. Overall the findings in this study were contradicting compared to previous findings. There was indication that there is no clear association between prenatal stress and infant overall microbiota composition. Also, the association regarding bacterial abundances could decline over age, and the association might be stronger in boys. However, not very consistent conclusions can be made based on research conducted so far.
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(2022)Background and aim Complementary feeding is defined as the period during which there is a progressive reduction of breastfeeding or formula while the infant is gradually introduced to solid foods at 4-6 months of age. Improper complementary feeding practices, such as introducing solid foods beyond 6 months of age or having a low dietary diversity could lead to negative infant health outcomes. Therefore, it is important to identify factors that might detrimentally affect complementary feeding, such as maternal stress. This thesis aimed to study the associations between maternal stress indicators, the age of solid food introduction, and dietary diversity during complementary feeding within a Finnish birth cohort. Methods The Health and Early Life Microbiota (HELMi) is a longitudinal birth cohort study. Participants of the HELMi cohort included 1055 healthy infants and their parents, mainly residing in the capital region of Finland. Pre-collected data from the HELMi study were used. The data collection occurred between 2016-2018. The main variables used in this thesis were collected via extensive online questionnaires. Binomial logistic regression analyses were used to study whether prenatal and postpartum stress indicators were associated with the age of solid food introduction and/or the infant’s dietary diversity during complementary feeding. Results Late introduction of solid foods (> 6 months) was less likely among infants whose mothers reported moderate or high prenatal stress (moderate prenatal stress OR=0.66, 95%CI 0.45-0.97, high prenatal stress OR 0.62, 95%CI 0.39-0.98), when compared to infants whose mothers reported low prenatal stress. Maternal stress indicators were not associated with low dietary diversity (0-3 food groups introduced) at 6 months of life. Among infants with a low dietary diversity at 9 months of age, mothers were more likely to report high levels of prenatal stress (OR=4.88, 95%CI 1.27-18.79), when compared to mothers with low levels of prenatal stress. Further, infants with a low dietary diversity at 9 months were less likely to have mothers report low to moderate levels of life satisfaction (OR=0.25, 95%CI 0.06-1.02) when compared to mothers with very high life satisfaction. They were also less likely to report moderate levels of infant health worry (OR=0.18, 95%CI 0.05-0.67) when compared to mothers with no infant health worry. Conclusions This is the first study to look at the associations between maternal stress indicators and dietary outcomes during complementary feeding. Maternal stress indicators were associated with the age of solid food introduction and the infant’s dietary diversity at 9 months, but not at 6 months. In future studies on this topic, a more socio-demographically representative sample should be recruited, and validated tools should be used to collect dietary and psychological data. Health practitioners and family clinic workers should be made aware of the possibly long-lasting effects of prenatal stress and consider its possible effects on dietary outcomes during complementary feeding.
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(2022)Background and aim Complementary feeding is defined as the period during which there is a progressive reduction of breastfeeding or formula while the infant is gradually introduced to solid foods at 4-6 months of age. Improper complementary feeding practices, such as introducing solid foods beyond 6 months of age or having a low dietary diversity could lead to negative infant health outcomes. Therefore, it is important to identify factors that might detrimentally affect complementary feeding, such as maternal stress. This thesis aimed to study the associations between maternal stress indicators, the age of solid food introduction, and dietary diversity during complementary feeding within a Finnish birth cohort. Methods The Health and Early Life Microbiota (HELMi) is a longitudinal birth cohort study. Participants of the HELMi cohort included 1055 healthy infants and their parents, mainly residing in the capital region of Finland. Pre-collected data from the HELMi study were used. The data collection occurred between 2016-2018. The main variables used in this thesis were collected via extensive online questionnaires. Binomial logistic regression analyses were used to study whether prenatal and postpartum stress indicators were associated with the age of solid food introduction and/or the infant’s dietary diversity during complementary feeding. Results Late introduction of solid foods (> 6 months) was less likely among infants whose mothers reported moderate or high prenatal stress (moderate prenatal stress OR=0.66, 95%CI 0.45-0.97, high prenatal stress OR 0.62, 95%CI 0.39-0.98), when compared to infants whose mothers reported low prenatal stress. Maternal stress indicators were not associated with low dietary diversity (0-3 food groups introduced) at 6 months of life. Among infants with a low dietary diversity at 9 months of age, mothers were more likely to report high levels of prenatal stress (OR=4.88, 95%CI 1.27-18.79), when compared to mothers with low levels of prenatal stress. Further, infants with a low dietary diversity at 9 months were less likely to have mothers report low to moderate levels of life satisfaction (OR=0.25, 95%CI 0.06-1.02) when compared to mothers with very high life satisfaction. They were also less likely to report moderate levels of infant health worry (OR=0.18, 95%CI 0.05-0.67) when compared to mothers with no infant health worry. Conclusions This is the first study to look at the associations between maternal stress indicators and dietary outcomes during complementary feeding. Maternal stress indicators were associated with the age of solid food introduction and the infant’s dietary diversity at 9 months, but not at 6 months. In future studies on this topic, a more socio-demographically representative sample should be recruited, and validated tools should be used to collect dietary and psychological data. Health practitioners and family clinic workers should be made aware of the possibly long-lasting effects of prenatal stress and consider its possible effects on dietary outcomes during complementary feeding.
Now showing items 1-9 of 9