Over the last few years, more research has been dedicated to understanding the impact of gut health and the gut microbiome on overall health. More recently, researchers sought to understand how the maternal microbiome, transferred from mothers to their infants, influenced neonatal and infant health. According to Medical XPress, a research team found that boosting the maternal microbiome with butyrate could reduce the risk of babies developing biliary atresia.
Interested in learning more? Take a look at the study findings published in Nature Communications.
Biliary Atresia
Biliary atresia is a rare liver and bile duct disease which causes scarring, damage, or blocking of bile ducts. Normally, bile ducts carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder. However, when the bile ducts become damaged, excess bile accumulates in the liver, causing additional health issues such as loss of liver function and liver scarring. In some cases, this condition results from a viral infection; in others, the cause is still unknown. Biliary atresia affects female infants slightly more than males.
Symptoms, which typically manifest in the first few weeks following birth, include:
- Jaundice (yellowing of the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes)
- Dark urine and pale stool
- Abdominal swelling
- Enlarged liver
- Irritability
- High blood pressure
- Poor weight gain
- Liver cirrhosis and fibrosis
- Pruritus (intense itching)
- Liver failure
Many infants with biliary atresia eventually require a liver transplant. Learn more about biliary atresia.
The Research
Conditions like biliary atresia usually begin or develop during the neonatal period. Thus, researchers wanted to understand whether boosting the maternal microbiome could reduce the risk of these conditions. In past research, studies found that Anaerococcus lactolyticus, a type of bacteria which produces butyrate, was somewhat resistant to biliary atresia. Therefore, researchers decided to treat mice models with butyrate and explore the results.
Butyrate
According to Atlas Biomed, butyrate is:
A short-chain fatty acid produced by your gut microbes when they break down dietary fiber. This metabolite has many important functions within the human body, particularly for digestive health, as well as supporting brain health.
Legumes, fruits, nuts, butter, and cheese are all good sources of butyrate. Butyrate can also be taken via supplements.
Butyrate and Biliary Atresia
Within this study, researchers began by feeding butyrate supplements to pregnant mice. The newborn mice were then exposed to a virus associated with biliary atresia. They wanted to understand whether these supplements could reduce the risk of biliary atresia. People with biliary atresia often have low butyrate levels, making this research important. Although these findings are promising, it is important to recognize that much more research is needed before any recommendations can be made on using butyrate as a treatment for human mothers and their infants.
Findings from the study include:
- 60% of newborn mice whose mothers took butyrate survived, compared to 20% of newborns born to mothers who did not use butyrate.
- Butyrate supplements improved levels of healthy gut bacteria within the maternal microbiome, which was then transferred to the infant mice. Additionally, butyrate stopped an overactive immune response which damaged biliary tissue.
- Healthy gut bacteria promoted increases in glutamine, which in turn supports bile duct health. After injecting newborn mice with glutamine, 83% did not develop biliary atresia.
