Bifido bacterium and mother's milk

[Guest guest]

Well this is fascinating. Bifido bacterium thrives on partsof mother's milk the infant gut is unable to absorb. Mother'smilk evolved this composition to keep children's guts clearof pathogenic bacteria while it was vulnerableand untrained: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/science/03milk.html?src=me & ref=generalThe details of this three-way relationship between mother, child and gut microbes are being worked out by three researchers at theUniversity of California, — Bruce German, Carlito Lebrilla and Mills. They and colleagues have found that a particular strain of bacterium, a subspecies of Bifidobacterium longum, possesses a special suite of genes that enable it to thrive on the indigestible component of milk.This subspecies is commonly found in the feces of breast-fed infants. It coats the lining of the infant’s intestine, protecting it from noxious bacteria.Infants presumably acquire the special strain of bifido from their mothers, but strangely, it has not yet been detected in adults. “We’re all wondering where it hides out,” Dr. Mills said.The indigestible substance that favors the bifido bacterium is a slew of complex sugars derived from lactose, the principal component of milk. The complex sugars consist of a lactose molecule on to which chains of other sugar units have been added. The human genome does not contain the necessary genes to break down the complex sugars, but the bifido subspecies does, the researchers say in a review of their progress in today’sProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences... The complex sugars were long thought to have no biological significance, even though they constitute up to 21 percent of milk. Besides promoting growth of the bifido strain, they also serve as decoys for noxious bacteria that might attack the infant’s intestines. The sugars are very similar to those found on the surface of human cells, and are constructed in the breast by the same enzymes. Many toxic bacteria and viruses bind to human cells by docking with the surface sugars. But they will bind to the complex sugars in milk instead. “We think mothers have evolved to let this stuff flush through the infant,” Dr. Mills said.Mara

[Guest guest]

Wow.. how incredible.

Neo-natal units in hospitals are rampant with C Diff.

My GI was telling me that he never visits Newborns in hospitals and doesn't

allow his family to as many people catch C Diff and many become symptomatic.

Babies are somehow immune to the C Diff.

I wonder if this could be part of an explanation as to why?

Fascinating!

Jodi

>

> Well this is fascinating. Bifido bacterium thrives on parts

> of mother's milk the infant gut is unable to absorb. Mother's

> milk evolved this composition to keep children's guts clear

> of pathogenic bacteria while it was vulnerable

> and untrained:

>

> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/science/03milk.html?src=me & ref=general

>

> The details of this three-way relationship between mother, child and gut

microbes are being worked out by three researchers at theUniversity of

California, — Bruce German, Carlito Lebrilla and Mills. They and

colleagues have found that a particular strain of bacterium, a subspecies of

Bifidobacterium longum, possesses a special suite of genes that enable it to

thrive on the indigestible component of milk.

>

> This subspecies is commonly found in the feces of breast-fed infants. It coats

the lining of the infant's intestine, protecting it from noxious bacteria.

>

> Infants presumably acquire the special strain of bifido from their mothers,

but strangely, it has not yet been detected in adults. " We're all wondering

where it hides out, " Dr. Mills said.

>

> The indigestible substance that favors the bifido bacterium is a slew of

complex sugars derived from lactose, the principal component of milk. The

complex sugars consist of a lactose molecule on to which chains of other sugar

units have been added. The human genome does not contain the necessary genes to

break down the complex sugars, but the bifido subspecies does, the researchers

say in a review of their progress in today'sProceedings of the National Academy

of Sciences...

>

>

>

> The complex sugars were long thought to have no biological significance, even

though they constitute up to 21 percent of milk. Besides promoting growth of the

bifido strain, they also serve as decoys for noxious bacteria that might attack

the infant's intestines. The sugars are very similar to those found on the

surface of human cells, and are constructed in the breast by the same enzymes.

Many toxic bacteria and viruses bind to human cells by docking with the surface

sugars. But they will bind to the complex sugars in milk instead. " We think

mothers have evolved to let this stuff flush through the infant, " Dr. Mills

said.

>

>

> Mara

>