Lluansí Aleix, Brotons Pedro, Díaz Marta, Rigalos Ariadna, Garcia-Beltran Cristina, Pérez-Argüello Amaresh, Cisneros Maria, Blanco-Fuertes Miguel, Henares Desirée, Ibáñez Lourdes, Muñoz-Almagro Carmen
Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Passeig Sant Joan de Déu n°2, Barcelona, Spain.
Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Monforte de Lemos 3-5, Madrid, Spain.
Respir Res. 2025 Jul 10;26(1):240. doi: 10.1186/s12931-025-03307-5.
The nasopharyngeal microbiota, which plays a crucial role in respiratory health and disease during infancy, was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in children and adults. This study aimed to prospectively explore the dynamics of the nasopharyngeal microbiota in infants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We conducted a prospective birth cohort study at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (Barcelona, Spain) involving 32 neonates born between December 2019 and December 2020. Epidemiological, clinical and microbiological variables as well as nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected during the firsts two years of life. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were used to characterize the nasopharyngeal microbiota through 16 S rRNA gene sequencing.
Our findings highlight the stabilization of the nasopharyngeal microbiota composition by 12 months of age. Key factors influencing nasopharyngeal microbiota patterns in the first two years of life included a history of upper respiratory tract infection episodes, a pattern of rapid post-natal weight gain, pneumococcal carriage detection, recent receipt of systematic vaccination, and the use of antibiotics and corticosteroids. Notably, rapid post-natal weight gain was associated with differences in the microbiota composition, with overrepresentation of potential beneficial bacteria such as Dolosigranulum pigrum and Corynebacterium spp., underrepresentation of Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis, and functional pathways with enhanced metabolic activity.
These findings demonstrate early stabilization of the nasopharyngeal microbiota composition by 12 months of age during the COVID-19 period and highlight the interplay between nasopharyngeal microbiota dynamics and early post-natal weight gain, with potential long-term impacts on metabolic outcomes.
鼻咽微生物群在婴儿期的呼吸健康和疾病中起着关键作用，在儿童和成人中，新冠疫情封锁对其产生了重大影响。本研究旨在前瞻性地探索新冠疫情期间婴儿鼻咽微生物群的动态变化。
我们在西班牙巴塞罗那圣琼德迪乌医院进行了一项前瞻性出生队列研究，纳入了2019年12月至2020年12月出生的32名新生儿。在生命的头两年收集流行病学、临床和微生物学变量以及鼻咽抽吸物。通过16S rRNA基因测序，利用鼻咽抽吸物来表征鼻咽微生物群。
我们的研究结果突出了到12月龄时鼻咽微生物群组成的稳定。影响生命头两年鼻咽微生物群模式的关键因素包括上呼吸道感染发作史、出生后体重快速增加模式、肺炎球菌携带检测、近期接受的系统疫苗接种，以及抗生素和皮质类固醇的使用。值得注意的是，出生后体重快速增加与微生物群组成差异有关，潜在有益细菌如猪狡诈菌和棒状杆菌属的比例过高，流感嗜血杆菌和卡他莫拉菌的比例过低，以及代谢活性增强的功能途径。
这些发现表明，在新冠疫情期间，鼻咽微生物群组成在12月龄时早期稳定，并突出了鼻咽微生物群动态与出生后早期体重增加之间的相互作用，对代谢结果可能产生长期影响。
