Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between intestinal microbiota and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).Methods: 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to compare the microbial composition of feces. The first sample was collected within 48 h after birth, then once per week until the NEC diagnosis, and finally 1–2 weeks after treatment or 28 days after birth.Results: The alpha diversity of the microbiota in the NEC group was higher than that in the control group. Beta diversity analysis showed that the control group had a higher similarity at the onset of NEC, while the NEC group was distributed in subgroups. Linear discriminant analysis effect size and taxonomic composition analyses indicated that the abundance of Bacteroides and Actinobacteria in NEC infants at birth was much higher than that in the control group, and this trend continued until NEC occurred. At this time, Rhizobiales, Dysgonomonas, Ochrobactrum, Ralstonia, Pelomonas, Acinetobacter, etc., were also more abundant in NEC infants. The upregulated different metabolic pathways in the NEC group were mainly concentrated on degradation/utilization/assimilation, biosynthesis, and generation of precursor metabolites and energy.Conclusions:1. The microbial community differs according to the time of NEC diagnosis (bounded by 20 days).2. No single microorganism is related to NEC, and the combined effect of multiple species is of great significance in the occurrence of NEC. Premature infants are easily affected by bacteria living in the environment, and compared with ordinary premature infants, NEC infants have a higher abundance of waterborne bacteria. Therefore, attention should be paid to the contamination of water sources and various ventilator pipelines for premature infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit.3. An in-depth study of the mode of microbial colonization in premature infants combined with the different functions of various metabolic pathways involved in different microorganisms may be able to identify the cause of NEC.
Highlights
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal emergencies in newborns and mostly occurs in premature infants born before 34 weeks of gestation
The control group stool samples were collected within 48 h of birth and the time close to the diagnosis in the NEC group
The results showed that the abundance of Bacteroides and Actinobacteria in NEC infants at birth was much higher than that in the control group, and this trend continued until NEC occurred, with Rhizobiales at the family level and Dysgonomonas, Ochrobactrum, Ralstonia, Pelomonas, Acinetobacter, etc., at the genus level exhibiting the same characteristics
Summary
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal emergencies in newborns and mostly occurs in premature infants born before 34 weeks of gestation. As a typical intestinal infectious disease, in 1975, Sántulli et al hypothesized that microbial imbalance in the digestive tract is involved in the pathogenesis of NEC, and this condition is dominated by bacterial disorders [3]. This imbalance is manifested by the lack of colonization by certain normal bacteria in the intestine or the occurrence of abnormal colonization, which is regarded as a key risk factor in NEC [4]. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between intestinal microbiota and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
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