Metabolic activity of intestinal microflora in newborns with a different mode of delivery

The authors studied microbial composition and metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiota in 20 babies born by caesarean section (main group) and 20 babies born vaginally (control group). There were isolated bifidobacteria from meconium at a concentration of 105– 1010 CFU/g by the bacteriological method in 4 (20%) children of the main group and 6 (30%) children in the control group. The gas-liquid chromatography revealed the metabolic activity of various representatives of the intestinal microflora in children of both groups, regardless of the mode of delivery; the indicators of metabolic activity were significantly lower than in the infants. The children in both groups had similar absolute and relative content of short-chain fatty acids in meconium. The data of gas-liquid chromatography indicate the metabolic activity of the meconium microbiota, which is dominated by anaerobic microbial populations and there is a high proportion of proteolytic and conditionally pathogenic flora. The data obtained confirm the process of intrauterine translocation of microbes from mother to child and indicate the importance of the microflora of the future mother in the process of forming the intestinal microbiota of the child.