Insights into the infant gut microbiome composition after bovine lactoferrin oral administration over time

Lactoferrin (LF) is a protein from breastmilk involved in early life microbiome assembly. It enhances the growth of acid-lactic bacteria and inhibits the overgrowth of pathogens by creating an acid environment. Moreover, it controls the bacterial population by lowering the local concentration of iron. Previous reports showed that LF oral administration in neonates favors the increase of gut microbiota diversity and the enrichment of beneficial microbiota. Notwithstanding, the effect of the oral administration of LF over time had not been studied, difficulting the understanding of LF's role on microbiome assembly during infancy. This work analyzed the gut microbiome composition and diversity of 60 infants who received oral administration of LF or placebo at 0, 2, and 4 months after the beginning of the treatment by performing 16S rRNA sequencing. Our results show that LF treatment does not increase gut microbiome diversity over time nor affects composition. Further studies, where participants have a mature gut microbiota, are required to have a deeper insight into the effect of LF on infant gut microbiota.