Homeoprophyalxis and the importance of the biome in fetal and infant immune system development

In humans, the intestinal microbiota has the largest number of bacteria and the greatest number of species, as compared to other areas of the body.

The intestinal lining of infants is established in utero by the infant swallowing and excreting the amniotic fluid. In early pregnancy, amniotic fluid is mainly water with electrolytes, but by about the 12-14th week the liquid also contains proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, phospholipids, and urine from the fetus, all of which aid in fetal growth and prepares its intestinal lining to house the necessary commensal bacteria. This amniotic fluid is akin to the primordial sea of abiogenesis and provides the necessary trace minerals and metals that are needed through all stages of not only nutritional and functional fetal development but also those aspects of our soul and being that connects us to the universe within which our consciousness exists.

Assuming the mother has a healthy biome, passage through the birth canal, and the swallowing of the amniotic fluid, mother’s bodily fluids, blood, urine, stool, and commensal bacteria introduces the healthy bacterial population vital to the life of the infant and their innate and adaptive immunity.

Lactobacillus, the predominant bacteria, and the lactic acid produced by them are essential to keep the vagina acidic and free of pathogenic bacteria and yeasts. Streptococcus bacteria is also a lactofementing bacteria.

Suckling at the breast, with contact to the mother’s skin and ingesting first colostrum (containing antibodies) and subsequent mother’s milk, grounds the transition of the fetus into the outer world. Although breast-fed infants do not show appreciable numbers of bacteria in their stool until after they are weaned, Bacteroides and Lactobacillus are a part of normal, healthy mother’s placental and vaginal microbiome. For the infant, in the first one to two years after birth, this population stabilizes its relationship to the intestinal epithelium and the mucosal barrier secreted by the epithelial cells. The biome and intestinal lining co-develop in a way that renders the intestines tolerant to, and even supportive of, that same biome.

Likewise, zonulin (haptoglobin), a protein whose relative concentrations are regulated by the DNA in intestinal immune cells, serves to maintain the tight junctions in this same intestinal lining. By doing so, this lining provides a barrier to pathogenic organisms and compels metabolites to enter the body through the portal vein, the normal route of entry. More importantly this process of discernment on behalf of the intestinal lining correlates relatively to the intellect’s ability to discern what is good for you or not.

Interestingly, oral exposure to wild polio virus in the first weeks of life, or through the fecal-oral route of transmition from the mother to the child, facilitates this critical regulation of zonulin, preventing a host of potential infections and auto-immune inflammatory responses, thus, preventing an overwhelm on the spleen’s ability to clean the plasma.

Gut microorganisms benefit the host by fermenting dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as acetic acid and butyric acid, which are then absorbed through the intestinal lining for other functions. Intestinal bacteria also play a role in synthesizing the B vitamins and vitamin K, as well as metabolizing bile acids, sterols, and xenobiotics (against life: drugs, pesticides, carcinogens). The gut flora itself appears to also function like an endocrine organ where the short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and other compounds produced, act like hormones directing the functionality of multiple systems. Tryptophan, the precursor to many neurotransmitters is produced by this same biome.

What we can say is that both streptococcal bacteria and polio virus serve to help the infant in priming the biome of the intestines and down regulation of zonulin facilitating the closing of the tight junctions of the intestines, both of which are preparing the immune system for healthy functioning.

The HPx Program FHCi offers starts with Polio nosode in the first weeks of life followed by Streptococcal nosode. Both of these help to set the stage for normal healthy immune system development so that upon exposure to the subsequent nosodes in the program, the immune system is properly charged to normal immunological responses.

We invite you to learn more about how immune systems are intended to develop in relation to infectious disease by reading some of our research and other blogs.