Fecal microbiome composition in neonates with or without urinary tract infection

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Neonatal Health
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Most infant febrile urinary tract infections (UTI) lack anatomical risk factors.
• Fecal microbiota is a potential source of common UTI pathogens.
• Investigating gut microbiota differences in febrile neonates with or without UTI is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if gut microbiota composition differs between febrile neonates younger than 2 months with and without UTI.
• To identify potential non-anatomical risk factors for UTI in neonates.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, case-control, pilot study.
• 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing used to characterize gut microbiota.
• Cohort included 42 febrile neonates (17 with UTI, 25 without UTI).

Main Results:

• Significant differences in beta diversity (between-group similarity) between UTI and non-UTI groups (p=0.016).
• Distinct differences in the relative abundance of prevalent bacterial genera.
• Specific genera were enriched in the UTI group, while others dominated the non-UTI group; Streptococci were underrepresented in the UTI group.
• No significant difference in alpha diversity (within-sample richness) was observed.

Conclusions:

• Febrile neonates with UTI exhibit a different fecal microbiota composition (beta-diversity) compared to those without UTI.
• Alpha diversity of the gut microbiota did not differ between the groups.
• Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and explore potential clinical applications.