Dichotomous development of the gut microbiome in preterm infants.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Preterm infants are at risk of developing intestinal dysbiosis with an increased proportion of Gammaproteobacteria. In this study, we sought the clinical determinants of the relative abundance of feces-associated Gammaproteobacteria in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Fecal microbiome was characterized at ??2 weeks and during the 3rd and 4th weeks after birth, by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Maternal and infant clinical characteristics were extracted from electronic medical records. Data were analyzed by linear mixed modeling and linear regression. RESULTS:Clinical data and fecal microbiome profiles of 45 VLBW infants (gestational age 27.9?±?2.2 weeks; birth weight 1126 ± 208 g) were studied. Three stool samples were analyzed for each infant at mean postnatal ages of 9.9?±?3, 20.7?±?4.1, and 29.4?±?4.9 days. The average relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria was 42.5% (0-90%) at ??2 weeks, 69.7% (29.9-86.9%) in the 3rd, and 75.5% (54.5-86%) in the 4th week (p?

SUBMITTER: Ho TTB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6136210 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature