ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Review Article | Open Access
Stena Jesima Rebello1, Christine Kurian1, Shanaya Phal Desai1, Sayanti Acharyya1, Semanti Das1, Pattukumar Vellaiyan2, Erumalla Venkata Nagaraju3 and Kuppusamy Alagesan Paari1
1Department of Life Sciences, Christ Deemed To Be University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
2Department of Zoology, ST Hindu College, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India.
3Department of Biochemistry, Indian Academy Degree College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Article Number: 9193 | © The Author(s). 2025
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2025;19(2):902-913. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.19.2.51
Received: 20 December 2023 | Accepted: 19 February 2025 | Published online: 04 June 2025
Issue online: June 2025
Abstract

The breast milk microbiome has emerged as an essential determinant of infant health, influencing gut microbiota composition, immune system development, and overall regulation of physiological maturation. This review focuses on a comprehensive analysis of breast milk microbiota and its contributions in shaping infant health. Additionally, the potential of probiotics in establishing a microbial equilibrium to improve gut microbiota and immunity in both preterm and full-term infants is discussed in detail. The first encounter with probiotics in the human body occurs during infancy through breast milk. Complete breastfeeding stimulates the growth and development of beneficial probiotics such as Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, and Bifidobacterium which play crucial roles in preventing conditions such as allergies, microbial infections, gastric and intestinal infections, urinary tract infections, necrotizing enterocolitis, and dermal infections. Most of these probiotics act as bacterial inhibitors by reducing pH levels, whereas some have specific cells that trigger immune cells to reduce infections. Thus, probiotics offer promising therapeutic effects for regulating overall infant health. This review emphasizes the importance of probiotic-based interventions in optimizing infant health outcomes.

Keywords

Breast Milk Microbiome, Infant Health, Probiotics, Gut Microbiota, Immune Development

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© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.