Intestinal microbial and metabolite profile in infants with small bowel stomas after bowel resection

Infants with small bowel stomas (SBstoma) frequently struggle with absorption and rely on parenteral nutrition (PN). Intestinal absorption is difficult to predict based solely on intestinal anatomy. The purpose of this study was to characterize the microbiota and metabolic by-products within stoma effluent and correlate with clinical features and intestinal absorption.

Prospective cohort study collecting stoma samples from neonates with SBstoma (N = 23) or colostomy control (N = 6) at initial enteral feed (first sample) and before stoma closure (last sample). Gut bacteriome (16S ribosomal RNA [rRNA] sequencing), short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and bile acids (BAs) were characterized along with volume and energy content of a 48 h collection via bomb calorimetry (last sample). Hierarchical clustering and linear regression were used to compare the bacteriome and BAs/SCFAs, to bowel length, PN, and growth.

Infants with ≤50% small bowel lost more fluid on average than those with >50% and controls (22, 18, 16 mL/kg/day, p = 0.013), but had similar energy losses (7, 10, 9 kcal/kg/day, p = 0.147). Infants growing poorly had enrichment of Proteobacteria compared to infants growing well (90% vs. 15%, p = 0.004). An increase in the ratio of secondary BAs within the small bowel over time, correlated with poor prognostic factors (≤50% small bowel, >50% of calories from PN, and poor growth).

Infants with SBstoma and poor growth have a unique bacteriome community and those with poor enteral tolerance have metabolic differences compared to infants with improved absorption.