Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
Duke Molecular Physiology Institute and Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27701, USA.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 3;9(1):8167. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44547-y.
Growth failure during infancy is a major global problem that has adverse effects on long-term health and neurodevelopment. Preterm infants are disproportionately affected by growth failure and its effects. Herein we found that extremely preterm infants with postnatal growth failure have disrupted maturation of the intestinal microbiota, characterized by persistently low diversity, dominance of pathogenic bacteria within the Enterobacteriaceae family, and a paucity of strictly anaerobic taxa including Veillonella relative to infants with appropriate postnatal growth. Metabolomic profiling of infants with growth failure demonstrated elevated serum acylcarnitines, fatty acids, and other byproducts of lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation. Machine learning algorithms for normal maturation of the microbiota and metabolome among infants with appropriate growth revealed a pattern of delayed maturation of the microbiota and metabolome among infants with growth failure. Collectively, we identified novel microbial and metabolic features of growth failure in preterm infants and potentially modifiable targets for intervention.
婴儿期生长发育迟缓是一个全球性的重大问题，对长期健康和神经发育有不良影响。早产儿不成比例地受到生长发育迟缓及其影响的影响。在此，我们发现患有生长发育迟缓的极早产儿的肠道微生物群成熟受到破坏，其特征是多样性持续降低、肠杆菌科内的致病菌占主导地位、严格厌氧菌属（如韦荣球菌属）相对缺乏，而这些特征在具有适当生长发育的婴儿中是不存在的。对生长发育迟缓婴儿的代谢组学分析表明，血清酰基肉碱、脂肪酸和其他脂肪分解和脂肪酸氧化的副产物升高。用于婴儿正常微生物群和代谢组成熟的机器学习算法表明，生长发育迟缓婴儿的微生物群和代谢组成熟模式延迟。总的来说，我们确定了早产儿生长发育迟缓的新的微生物和代谢特征，并为干预提供了潜在的可调节目标。
