Observational studyNature microbiology2021
Bifidobacterium species associated with breastfeeding produce aromatic lactic acids in the infant gut.
Observational study in Nature microbiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 323 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
323 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 494 citations in OpenAlex.
- Probiotics in Term Infants: Clinical Impact of Infant-Type Bifidobacteria: A Systematic Review and Meta-analyses.The Journal of nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Multi-omics time-series analysis in microbiome research: a systematic review.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2025Pooled it
- Mother-to-infant vertical transmission in early life: a systematic review and proportional meta-analysis of Bifidobacterium strain transmissibility.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Probiotics on Preterm Infant Gut Microbiota Across Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Pooled it
- Commensal Cutibacterium acnes-derived indolelactic acid safeguards skin barrier function through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Trial
- Anti-inflammatory effects of Bifidobacterium infantis M-63 during the early postnatal period in term infants.Pediatric research · 2026Trial
- Impact ofFrontiers in nutrition · 2026Trial
- A young child formula with Limosilactobacillus reuteri and GOS modulates gut microbiome and enhances bone and muscle development: a randomized trial.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Exploring the Fecal Metabolome in Infants With Cow's Milk Allergy: The Distinct Impacts of Cow's Milk Protein Tolerance Acquisition and of Synbiotic Supplementation.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2025Trial
- The Impact of Fermented Milk Products ContainingNutrients · 2024Trial
- Metabolic pathway analysis reveals hierarchical pentose sugar utilization and metabolic flexibility ofGut microbes · 2026Article
- Orchestrating life's first community: molecular assembly by human milk oligosaccharides.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Nationwide cohort study reveals low bifidobacteria and distinct microbiota composition and function in Swedish newborns.Gut microbes · 2026Observational
- The gut microbiome and mitochondrial function in metabolism, immunity, and disease.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Microbiota-bile acid-host axis dysregulation drives enteropathogenesis inThe veterinary quarterly · 2026Article
- Gut microbiome shifts in chronic systolic heart failure are associated with disease severity and clinical improvement.Nature cardiovascular research · 2026Article
- Bifidobacteria: biogeography, host adaptation and ecological functions.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome maturation in early childhood interacts with host genetics to predict type 1 diabetes risk.Nature metabolism · 2026Article
- Plasticity of the infant immune system during the perinatal period.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
263 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Breastfeeding profoundly shapes the infant gut microbiota, which is critical for early life immune development, and the gut microbiota can impact host physiology in various ways, such as through the production of metabolites. However, few breastmilk-dependent microbial metabolites mediating host-microbiota interactions are currently known. Here, we demonstrate that breastmilk-promoted Bifidobacterium species convert aromatic amino acids (tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine) into their respective aromatic lactic acids (indolelactic acid, phenyllactic acid and 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid) via a previously unrecognized aromatic lactate dehydrogenase (ALDH). The ability of Bifidobacterium species to convert aromatic amino acids to their lactic acid derivatives was confirmed using monocolonized mice. Longitudinal profiling of the faecal microbiota composition and metabolome of Danish infants (n = 25), from birth until 6 months of age, showed that faecal concentrations of aromatic lactic acids are correlated positively with the abundance of human milk oligosaccharide-degrading Bifidobacterium species containing the ALDH, including Bifidobacterium longum, B. breve and B. bifidum. We further demonstrate that faecal concentrations of Bifidobacterium-derived indolelactic acid are associated with the capacity of these samples to activate in vitro the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a receptor important for controlling intestinal homoeostasis and immune responses. Finally, we show that indolelactic acid modulates ex vivo immune responses of human CD4
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.