To assess impact of probiotics and breastfeeding on gut microecology.
Mothers were randomized to receive placebo or Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG before delivery, with treatment of the infants after delivery. We assessed gut microbiota, humoral immune responses, and measured soluble cluster of differentiation 14 (sCD14) in colostrum in 96 infants.
Fecal Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus/Enterococcus counts were higher in breastfed than formula-fed infants at 6 months; P
A 33-mer peptide of the alpha-gliadin component of gluten was recently identified as primary initiator of the inflammatory response to gluten in coeliac disease (CD) patients. This proline-glutamine-rich peptide (PG-peptide) is highly homologous to internal sequence of pertactin, an immunogenic protein of Bordetella pertussis. Using enzyme immunoassays, we measured serum antibodies to pertactin and to PG-peptide in 167 Finnish subjects including pertussis vaccine recipients and pertussis patients, CD and non-CD patients and healthy individuals. We found no cross-reactivity between human antibodies to the two different components, suggesting that neither pertussis immunization nor disease contributes to the pathogenesis of CD.
