Early gut mycobiota and mother-offspring transfer.

BACKGROUND: The fungi in the gastrointestinal tract, the gut mycobiota, are now recognised as a significant part of the gut microbiota, and they may be important to human health. In contrast to the adult gut mycobiota, the establishment of the early gut mycobiota has never been described, and there is little knowledge about the fungal transfer from mother to offspring. METHODS: In a prospective cohort, we followed 298 pairs of healthy mothers and offspring from 36 weeks of gestation until 2 years of age (1516 samples) and explored the gut mycobiota in maternal and offspring samples. Half of the pregnant mothers were randomised into drinking probiotic milk during and after pregnancy. The probiotic bacteria included Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bb-12 and Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5. We quantified the fungal abundance of all the samples using qPCR of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1 segment, and we sequenced the 18S rRNA gene ITS1 region of 90 high-quantity samples using the MiSeq platform (Illumina). RESULTS: The gut mycobiota was detected in most of the mothers and the majority of the offspring. The offspring showed increased odds of having detectable faecal fungal DNA if the mother had detectable fungal DNA as well (OR = 1.54, p = 0.04). The fungal alpha diversity in the offspring gut increased from its lowest at 10 days after birth, which was the earliest sampling point. The fungal diversity and fungal species showed a succession towards the maternal mycobiota as the child aged, with Debaryomyces hansenii being the most abundant species during breast-feeding and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the most abundant after weaning. Probiotic consumption increased the gut mycobiota abundance in pregnant mothers (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study provides the first insight into the early fungal establishment and the succession of fungal species in the gut mycobiota. The results support the idea that the fungal host phenotype is transferred from mother to offspring. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00159523.

Leprosy treatment during pregnancy and breastfeeding: A case report and brief review of literature.

Leprosy is a chronic disease which primarily affects the skin, mucous membranes and peripheral nerves due to Mycobacterium leprae. It is now infrequent in Europe and is rarely reported during pregnancy. Leprosy can be exacerbated during pregnancy, and without treatment it can permanently damage the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Therefore, it is important to treat leprosy during pregnancy. This article describes a patient with multibacillary lepromatous leprosy who was treated with multidrug therapy during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The patient delivered a healthy baby girl without perinatal complications, and the infant's growth and development were normal during the 1-year follow-up period. Multidrug therapy consisting of dapsone, rifampicine, and clofazimine is highly effective for people with leprosy and considered safe, both for the mother and the child. Antileprosy drugs are excreted into human milk but there is no report of adverse effects except for skin discoloration of the infant due to clofazimine. Multidrug therapy for leprosy patients should be continued unchanged during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Laryngeal involvement causing dysphonia in a 29 year old nursing mother with lepromatous leprosy.

Leprosy is a granulomatous disease that mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves. It is caused by infection with mycobacterium leprae or mycobacterium lepromatosus. In most instances, diagnosis of leprosy can easily be made based on the clinical signs and symptoms. However, when patients present with atypical features, clinical diagnosis can be a challenge. We report a case of a nursing mother with lepromatous leprosy who presented with dysphonia and skin lesions initially thought to be a deep cutaneous mycosis.

Characteristics of pregnant and lactating women with leprosy.

INTRODUCTION: The clinical characteristics of women who conceive during leprosy and the association between leprosy and pregnancy are not well known. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 49 pregnant or lactating women diagnosed with leprosy in 2011. RESULTS: The patients had a clinical dimorphous form of leprosy (44.9%), no physical incapacity at diagnosis (87.5%), and no complications in either the patient or infant (33.4%). In 36.3% of cases, leprosy symptoms were presented in the last trimester of pregnancy, and in 31.9% of patients were in the first trimester of lactation. CONCLUSIONS: The association between leprosy and pregnancy should be routinely investigated, particularly in endemic areas.

Aleitamento sob cuidados especiais

Material que compõe a Unidade 03 do Curso Autoinstrucional de Capacitação em Atenção Integral à Saúde Sexual e Reprodutiva I, produzido pela UNA-SUS/UFMA e voltado para médicos que atuam na Atenção Básica. Apresenta as condições maternas em que o aleitamento materno não deve ser contraindicado.

Administración de fármacos utilizados en dermatología durante el embarazo y la lactancia (I) / Administration of drugs used in dermatology during pregnancy and breastfeeding (I)

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Recurrent group B streptococcal disease in infants: Who should receive rifampin?

A preterm breast-fed infant had three episodes of type Ia/c group B streptococcus septicemia. After the second episode rifampin was given to the infant, but further Ia/c exposure to maternal breast milk ensued. We propose rifampin treatment for both the mother and infant in cases of recurrent group B streptococcus disease.

An historical and clinical review of the interaction of leprosy and pregnancy: a cycle to be broken.

Since earliest history the person with leprosy has been shut out from society. Laws have prohibited marriage and allowed divorce of those with leprosy. Segregation of the sufferer from the rest of society has been followed by separation of the sexes, and of leprous parents from their children. With the advent of antileprotic drugs, first dapsone then multidrug therapy (MDT), infection can be treated, individuals made non-infectious, and the pool of infection in the community reduced. The clinical signs of leprosy are due not to the degree of infection but to the immunological status of the host. Hormonal changes at puberty and in pregnancy can cause variation of the host's immune status. Pregnancy in women with leprosy is a hazardous undertaking. First appearance of leprosy, reactivation of the disease and relapse in 'cured' patients is likely to occur particularly in the third trimester of pregnancy. Leprosy reactions caused by variation in cell mediated and humoral immunity are triggered off by pregnancy: type 1 reaction (reversal reaction, RR) occurs post partum, while type 2 reaction (erythema nodosum leprosum, ENL) peaks in late pregnancy. Both types of reaction continue long into lactation. Neuritis with loss of both sensory and motor function is associated with relapse and reaction. Relapse, reaction and nerve damage, especially 'silent neuritis', with subsequent deformity and disability, occur not only in women on apparently effective treatment but also in those who have received MDT and have been released from treatment (RFT). To prevent disability, research is urgently needed into the mechanisms of early and late reaction and neuritis. Pregnancy is not only a trigger factor for reaction but an ideal in vivo model for research. Up to 20% of children born to mothers with leprosy may develop leprosy by puberty. While early leprosy in young children is self-healing, when marriage and childbearing take place at an early age the daughters of mothers with leprosy are likely to run the risk of experiencing the adverse effects of pregnancy on leprosy. Increased awareness and health education, as well as long term surveillance of 'cured' leprosy patients, are essential to break a potentially vicious cycle of leprosy and pregnancy. Women with cured leprosy could play an important role in screening for and detection of both early leprosy in children and late, post-MDT RFT, nerve damage in their mothers.