Abstract
BackgroundIt is important to understand the consequences of pre-emptive antibiotic treatment in neonates, as disturbances in microbiota development during this key developmental time window might affect early and later life health outcomes. Despite increasing knowledge regarding the detrimental effect of antibiotics on the gut microbiota, limited research focussed on antibiotic treatment duration. We determined the effect of short and long amoxicillin/ceftazidime administration on gut microbiota development during the immediate postnatal life of preterm and term infants.MethodsFaeces was collected from 63 (pre) term infants at postnatal weeks one, two, three, four and six. Infants received either no (control), short-term (ST) or long-term (LT) postpartum amoxicillin/ceftazidime treatment.ResultsCompared to control infants, ST and LT infants’ microbiota contained significantly higher abundance of Enterococcus during the first two postnatal weeks at the expense of Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus. Short and long antibiotic treatment both allowed for microbiota restoration within the first six postnatal weeks. However, Enterococcus and Bifidobacterium abundances were affected in fewer ST than LT infants.ConclusionsIntravenous amoxicillin/ceftazidime administration affects intestinal microbiota composition by decreasing the relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella and Streptococcus, while increasing the relative abundance of Enterococcus and Lactobacillus species during the first two postnatal weeks. Thriving of enterococci at the expense of bifidobacteria and streptococci should be considered as aspect of the cost-benefit determination for antibiotic prescription.
Highlights
It is important to understand the consequences of pre-emptive antibiotic treatment in neonates, as disturbances in microbiota development during this key developmental time window might affect early and later life health outcomes
Overall microbiota composition was significantly associated with antibiotic treatment duration during the first three postnatal weeks, but not at postnatal weeks four and six (Additional file 1)
In LT infants, higher relative abundance of Enterococcus was observed at the second postnatal week, as compared to control infants (Log2FoldChange = 2.996, p = 0.005)
Summary
It is important to understand the consequences of pre-emptive antibiotic treatment in neonates, as disturbances in microbiota development during this key developmental time window might affect early and later life health outcomes. Despite increasing knowledge regarding the detrimental effect of antibiotics on the gut microbiota, limited research focussed on antibiotic treatment duration. We determined the effect of short and long amoxicillin/ceftazidime administration on gut microbiota development during the immediate postnatal life of preterm and term infants. The use of antibiotics in early-life, and corresponding disturbances of the gut microbiota, have been associated with negative health outcomes, including asthma, atopy and obesity [12,13,14]. We determined the effect of short-term and long-term postpartum antibiotic treatment on the gut microbiota throughout the first six postnatal weeks in 63 infants. The effect of other parameters on microbiota composition were studied, including gestational age, delivery mode, maternal antibiotics, enteral feeding tolerance, feeding type and respiratory support
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