Influence of the Destabilisation of the Maternal Digestive Microflora on That of the Newborn Rat

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Abstract
By destabilising the digestive flora of pregnant rats by antibiotic treatment, it was shown that part of the digestive microflora of the neonate originated from the maternal faeces. A mixture of ampicillin, bacitracin neomycin and streptomycin associated with nystatin were administered ad libitum at three different times, 1-3, 3-5, and more than 5 days before the estimated date of littering. For each treatment, samples were taken from the faeces, teats, and vagina of dams and from the digestive tracts of neonates aged between 6 and 120 h, and analysed for the presence of staphylococci, enterococci, lactobacilli and coliform bacteria. Antibiotic treatment reduced digestive flora populations to levels lower than 102 g––1 but had less effect on the vaginal and cutaneous mammary flora. In the digestive microflora of the neonate, the enterococci were unevenly affected, whereas the staphylococci were considerably decreased and the lactobacilli almost completely eliminated; coliform bacteria were found sporadically and in small numbers. The traces of antibiotics found in milk are not sufficient to explain these modifications. Counts made in control animals on media fed the same antibiotic concentrations were not modified. This work underlined the awful consequences for the newborn of a serious perturbation of the mother flora and the necessity of its presence for a normal installation of the digestive microflora of the newborn.

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