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Premature Infant Gut Microbiome relationships with childhood behavioral scales: preliminary insights
Samia Valeria Ozorio Dutra1,2,3, Anujit Sarkar2,3, Ji Youn Yoo2,3
1Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States.
Insights
Gut microbiome alterations in very low birth weight infants are linked to behavioral issues at age 4. Specific bacteria like Veillonella dispar and Escherichia coli showed associations with later childhood behavior.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neonatal Medicine
Background:
- Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) infants face risks of gut dysbiosis and neurodevelopmental deficits.
- Subtle behavioral effects linked to microbial dysbiosis in VLBW infants require further investigation.
- The long-term neurobehavioral consequences of early gut microbiome dysbiosis in VLBW infants are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore associations between the gut microbiome of VLBW infants and their behavior at 4 years of age.
- To identify specific bacterial taxa linked to behavioral outcomes in early childhood.
- To contribute to understanding the gut-brain axis in the context of VLBW development.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to assess behavioral domains in children at 4 years.
- Employed canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and multivariate analysis by linear models (MaAsLin) to link gut microbiome data with behavioral scores.
- Corrected CBCL scores for potential confounding factors including gestational age, birth weight, and sepsis.
Main Results:
- Identified statistically significant associations between specific gut bacteria (e.g., Veillonella dispar, Enterococcus, Escherichia coli, Ruminococcus) and behavior at 4 years.
- Observed links between early life gut bacteria and affective, anxiety, and attention deficit/hyperactivity domains.
- Found no significant association between early-life gut microbiome alpha diversity and 4-year behavioral measures.
Conclusions:
- Preliminary data suggest a relationship between VLBW gut microbiome dysbiosis and childhood behavior.
- This study highlights specific bacterial taxa that may influence neurobehavioral development in VLBW individuals.
- Findings support the examination of gut microbiome composition in understanding behavioral development in VLBW populations.
Introduction:
Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) infants, born weighing less than 1,500 grams, are at risk for both gut dysbiosis and later neuropsychological developmental deficits. Behavioral effects, while related to neurodevelopment, are often more subtle and difficult to measure. The extent of later neurobehavioral consequences associated with such microbial dysbiosis has yet to be determined. We explored associations between the infants' gut microbiome and early childhood behavior at 4 years of age and identified the bacterial taxa through a multivariate analysis by linear models.
Methods:
Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) focused on different DSM diagnostic categories: affective, anxiety, pervasive developmental, attention deficit/hyperactivity, and oppositional defiant. All the CBCL scores were corrected for gender, delivery method, gestational age, infant birth weight, occurrence of sepsis, and days on antibiotics prior statistical analyses. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was performed to determine the relationship between early life gut microbiome and the adjusted CBCL scores. The association of bacterial Amplicon sequence Variants (ASVs) to the CBCL scores were tested with multivariate analysis by linear models (MaAsLin).
Results:
Nineteen children who were previously born with very low birth weight and studied while hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) were included in this study. Statistically significant associations were observed between early life gut bacteria such as Veillonella dispar, Enterococcus, Escherichia coli, and Rumincococcus to later behavior at 4 years. No significant association could be observed with early-life gut microbiome alpha diversity and behavioral measures at 4 years.
Discussion:
These preliminary observational data provide insight into the relationships between VLBW gut microbiome dysbiosis and childhood behavior. This study contributes to the literature on gut microbiome analysis by examining various behavioral domains using a standardized tool linked to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
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