Long-term dysbiosis and fluctuations of gut microbiome in antibiotic treated preterm infants

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 13, 2025

Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction-based Analyses of Murine Intestinal Microbiota After Oral Antibiotic Treatment
08:33

Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction-based Analyses of Murine Intestinal Microbiota After Oral Antibiotic Treatment

Published on: November 17, 2018

13.0K

Murat Cetinbas1,2, Julie Thai3, Evgenia Filatava4

  • 1Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

Iscience
|October 13, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Antibiotic use in preterm infants significantly alters the gut microbiome, causing lasting dysbiosis and reduced diversity. These changes persist post-treatment, impacting infant health and development.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiome research
  • Neonatal intensive care
  • Pediatric health

Background:

  • Postnatal microbiome acquisition is crucial for infant health.
  • Preterm infants often receive antibiotics, leading to adverse health outcomes.
  • The impact of antibiotics on the developing infant microbiome is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the longitudinal effects of antibiotic exposure on the preterm infant gut microbiome.
  • To compare the microbiome composition, diversity, and stability between antibiotic-treated and untreated preterm infants.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal profiling of microbial 16S rRNA in stool samples.
  • Study included 79 preterm infants hospitalized in the intensive care unit.
  • Comparison of antibiotic-treated versus untreated infant cohorts.

Main Results:

  • Antibiotic-treated infants showed significant deviations in microbiome content, diversity, and temporal stability.
  • Microbiome dysbiosis and fluctuations persisted long after antibiotic exposure, up to hospital discharge.
  • Microbiome diversity was characterized by a dominance of a few common bacteria across all infants.

Conclusions:

  • Antibiotic administration profoundly disrupts the preterm infant microbiome, with long-lasting effects.
  • Findings suggest a need to reconsider antibiotic use and explore targeted microbial interventions.
  • Understanding these microbiome alterations is key to improving preterm infant health outcomes.

Keywords:
Health sciencesMicrobiomePediatrics

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