Infant formula supplemented with low protein and high carbohydrate alters the intestinal microbiota in neonatal SD rats

BACKGROUND: Infant microbiota is influenced by numerous factors, such as delivery mode, environment, prematurity and diet (breast milk or formula) and last but not least, the diet composition. In the diet composition, protein and carbohydrate are very important for the growth of microbiota, many infant fomulas (different ratio protein/carbohydrate) can regulate the development of gut microbiota by different metabolism. The effect of low-protein, high-carbohydrate infant formula on the establishment of microbiota remains unclear, and the effect of human breast milk on the gut microbiota of the rats has also not been reported. RESULTS: In a 7 d intervention, a total of 36 neonatal SD rats (14 d old) were randomly assigned to the following groups: (1) breast-fed group (A group); (2) low-protein, high-carbohydrate infant formula-fed group (B group); (3) human breast milk-fed group (C group). After 7 days, we selected 6 rats at random from each group to study. Microbial composition in the contents of the large intestines was analysed by Miseq Sequencing. Significantly different (p<0.05) microbial colonisation patterns were observed in the large intestines of breast-fed group from low-protein, high-carbohydrate infant formula-fed and human breast milk-fed rats, but the microbiota of low-protein, high-carbohydrate infant formula-fed group and human breast milk-fed group have high similarity. At the phylum level, the absolute quantity of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria (p<0.001) significantly differentiated in breast-fed group from low- protein, high- carbohydrate infant formula-fed and human breast milk-fed groups. Lachnospiraceae, Bacteroidaceae, Porphyromonadaceae and Prevotellaceae were the 4 top families in breast-fed group, but the top 4 families in low-protein, high- carbohydrate infant formula-fed and human breast milk-fed groups were the same, which were Bacteroidaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Porphyromonadaceae and Lachnospiraceae. At the genus level, Bacteroides was the most abundant division, their OTUS abundance in three groups was 14.91%, 35.94%, 43.24% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that infant formula closer resembling human milk was more different than rats’ breast milk and led to a microbiota profile similar to that for human breast milk-fed neonates. The finding could support a new thinking to develop infant formulas, and provide much more details than what is known previously. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-014-0279-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.