Objectives: Our aim was to establish whether there is an interconnection between the compositional development of the\r\ngut microbiota and the amount of fussing and crying in early infancy.\r\nMethods: Behavioral patterns of 89 infants during the 7th and 12th week of life were recorded in parental diaries. Total\r\ndistress was defined as the sum of daily amounts of crying and fussing. Infantsââ?¬â?¢ gut microbiota profiles were investigated by\r\nseveral molecular assays during the first six months of life.\r\nResults: The median (range) duration of total distress among the infants was 106 (0ââ?¬â??478) minutes a day during the 7th and\r\n58 (0ââ?¬â??448) minutes a day during the 12th week. The proportion of Bifidobacterium counts to total bacterial counts was\r\ninversely associated with the amount of crying and fussing during the first 3 months of life (p = 0.03), although the number\r\nof Bifidobacterium breve was positively associated with total distress (p = 0.02). The frequency of Lactobacillus spp. at the age\r\nof 3 weeks was inversely associated with total infant distress during the 7th week of life (p = 0.02).\r\nConclusions: Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus appear to protect against crying and fussing. Identification of specific strains\r\nwith optimal protective properties would benefit at-risk infants.
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