SynthesisNPJ biofilms and microbiomes2025
Mother-to-infant vertical transmission in early life: a systematic review and proportional meta-analysis of Bifidobacterium strain transmissibility.
Synthesis in NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Microbiota Signatures in Early Life and Their Association With Food Allergy: A Systematic Review.Allergy · 2026Pooled it
- Gut microbiota during pregnancy: a bibliometric analysis of global research trends and collaborative networks.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- Nationwide cohort study reveals low bifidobacteria and distinct microbiota composition and function in Swedish newborns.Gut microbes · 2026Observational
- Human milk microbiome as a modulator of the early-life gut-brain axis: mechanisms and translational opportunities for neurodevelopment.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Gestational dysbiosis is associated with altered early-life microbial seeding and favors pathobiont expansion in offspring.iScience · 2026Article
- Distinct associations among human milk microbiota and minerals in relation to early infant growth: a longitudinal study.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Impact of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics on maternal and fetal health: mechanisms, efficacy, and safety across pregnancy.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Human milk oligosaccharide mediates mutualism between Escherichia coli and Bifidobacterium bifidum.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Novel insights into how gestational diet affects maternal-infant microbiota: a cross-sectional causal mediation analysis at one month postpartum.European journal of nutrition · 2026Observational
- Review
- Metagenomic strain tracking reveals patterns of bacterial spread and the impact of water chlorination.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Significant strain microdiversity in mother-infant dyad cohorts across ethnic groups reveals population specificity of bifidobacteria microbiota transmission.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Placental and maternal microbiome adaptations in a preeclamptic-like mouse model.Frontiers in microbiomes · 2026Article
- Insights into toxin-antitoxin systems in the genusApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Review
- Strainify: Strain-Level Microbiome Profiling for Low-Coverage Short-Read Metagenomic Datasets.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Early-life colonization is a critical developmental process influencing infant biological programming, with bifidobacteria playing a key role. This systematic review examines the transmissibility of Bifidobacterium strains from mothers to infants. Adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 31 articles from 2009 to 2024 were selected from 2825 screened titles and abstracts. Using a narrative synthesis and meta-analysis, the review focuses on studies employing strain-level metagenomic approaches (Protocol registry CRD: CRD42023490507). Ten studies using shotgun metagenomic sequencing identified specific strains of B. adolescentis, B. angulatum, B. bifidum, B. breve, B. pseudocatenulatum, B. catenulatum, and B. longum shared between mothers and infants. A meta-analysis of 810 mother-infant pairs revealed an overall species transmissibility estimate of 30% (95% CI: 0.17; 0.44), with B. longum strains persisting in infants' guts for up to 6 months. Strain transmissibility was higher in vaginally delivered infants compared to those delivered by caesarean section. This review highlights the high transmission rates of maternal Bifidobacterium strains in early-life gut seeding, particularly B. bifidum and B. longum. Despite ongoing research, uncertainties remain regarding the precise characteristics, transmission routes, and mechanisms of transmitted strains. Comprehensive approaches, including metagenomic sequencing and longitudinal studies, are needed to understand the role of vertical transmission in infant gut microbiome engraftment and its functional implications.
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Registered trials
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.