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Dichotomous development of the gut microbiome in preterm infants

Journal Article · · Microbiome
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [5];  [6]
  1. Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics. Morsani College of Medicine
  2. Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics. Morsani College of Medicine. College of Nursing
  3. Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States). College of Nursing
  4. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program. Microbiome Center. Dept. of Surgery
  5. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Microbiome Center. Dept. of Surgery; Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  6. Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics. Morsani College of Medicine; Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics

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. 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 < 0.001). Hierarchical and K-means clustering identified two distinct subgroups: cluster 1 started with comparatively low abundance that increased with time, whereas cluster 2 began with a greater abundance at ≤ 2 weeks (p < 0.001) that decreased over time. Both groups resembled each other by the 3rd week. Single variants of Klebsiella and Staphylococcus described variance in community structure between clusters and were shared between all infants, suggesting a common, hospital-derived source. Fecal Gammaproteobacteria was positively associated with vaginal delivery and antenatal steroids. We detected a dichotomy in gut microbiome assembly in preterm infants: some preterm infants started with low relative gammaproteobacterial abundance in stool that increased as a function of postnatal age, whereas others began with and maintained high abundance. Vaginal birth and antenatal steroids were identified as predictors of Gammaproteobacteria abundance in the early (≤ 2 weeks) and later (3rd and 4th weeks) stool samples, respectively. These findings are important in understanding the development of the gut microbiome in premature infants.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Inst. of Health (NIH) (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1493912
Journal Information:
Microbiome, Journal Name: Microbiome Vol. 6; ISSN 2049-2618
Publisher:
BioMed CentralCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (7)

Changes in the Composition of the Gut Microbiota and the Blood Transcriptome in Preterm Infants at Less than 29 Weeks Gestation Diagnosed with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia journal October 2019
Development of the Gut Microbiome in Children, and Lifetime Implications for Obesity and Cardiometabolic Disease journal November 2018
Evolution of Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in Suspected Necrotizing Enterocolitis: A Case-Control Study journal July 2020
Dysbiosis and Prematurity: Is There a Role for Probiotics? journal June 2019
Nutrients and Microbiota in Lung Diseases of Prematurity: The Placenta-Gut-Lung Triangle journal February 2020
Effects of early life NICU stress on the developing gut microbiome journal January 2019
A murine neonatal model of necrotizing enterocolitis caused by anemia and red blood cell transfusions journal August 2019


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