Disrupted gut microbiomes in male mice increase their offspring’s risk of low birth weight, stunted growth and premature death Decreasing the divers

Father's gut microbiome may affect infant health

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2024-05-06 03:00:04

Disrupted gut microbiomes in male mice increase their offspring’s risk of low birth weight, stunted growth and premature death

Decreasing the diversity and abundance of gut microbes in male mice increases their offspring’s risk of low birth weight, stunted growth and premature death. This suggests that a father’s gut microbiome may impact infant health.

Plenty of research has established a link between microbes in mothers and infants, yet little is known about the impact of paternal gut health.

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So Jamie Hackett at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Rome and his colleagues treated 28 male mice with antibiotics, which decreased the abundance of gut microbes in the animals by 10-fold and shifted their balance of microbial species.

The rodents – along with another 12 male mice that had stopped the antibiotic treatment two months earlier and 26 control mice not given antibiotics at all – then mated with females. Together the groups produced more than 400 offspring.