Milk and bugs educate infant immune systems

Immune-system maturation starts early in life, but studies investigating immune-system education in human infants remain scarce. In a recent issue of Cell, Henrick et al. study early gut microbiota and immune-system development in two infant cohorts. The authors describe that Bifidobacteria can use milk sugars to produce immunoregulatory compounds that induce immune tolerance and reduce intestinal inflammation.

Automated summary

The study found that Bifidobacteria can produce immunoregulatory compounds using milk sugars, aiding in immune tolerance and reducing intestinal inflammation in infants.