Association between the faecal short-chain fatty acid propionate and infant sleep

The gut microbiota harvests energy from indigestible plant polysaccharides, forming short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are absorbed from the bowel. SCFAs provide energy—presumably after easily digested food components have been absorbed from the small intestine. Infant night waking is believed by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of clinical nutrition 2020-09, Vol.74 (9), p.1362-1365
Main Authors: Heath, Anne-Louise M., Haszard, Jillian J., Galland, Barbara C., Lawley, Blair, Rehrer, Nancy J., Drummond, Lynley N., Sims, Ian M., Taylor, Rachael W., Otal, Ana, Taylor, Barry, Tannock, Gerald W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Acetic acid
Babies
Brief Communication
Clinical Nutrition
Dietary fiber
Epidemiology
Esters
Fatty acids
Hunger
Infants
Internal Medicine
Intestinal microflora
Intestine
Mediation
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Metabolic Diseases
Microbiota
Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms)
Night
Polysaccharides
Propionic acid
Public Health
Saccharides
Sleep
Small intestine
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Summary:The gut microbiota harvests energy from indigestible plant polysaccharides, forming short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are absorbed from the bowel. SCFAs provide energy—presumably after easily digested food components have been absorbed from the small intestine. Infant night waking is believed by many parents to be due to hunger. Our objective was to determine whether faecal SCFAs are associated with longer uninterrupted sleep in infants. Infants ( n  = 57) provided faecal samples for determining SCFAs (7 months of age), and questionnaire data for determining infant sleep (7 and 8 months). Linear regression determined associations between SCFAs—faecal acetate, propionate and butyrate—and sleep. For each 1% higher propionate at 7 months of age, the longest night sleep was 6 (95% CI: 1, 10) minutes longer at both 7 and 8 months. A higher proportion of total faecal SCFA as propionate was associated with longer uninterrupted infant sleep.
ISSN:0954-3007
1476-5640
DOI:10.1038/s41430-019-0556-0