Determinants of the Very Low-Birth-Weight Infant's Intestinal Microbiome: A Systematic Review.
Katelyn Desorcy-Scherer, Marion M Bendixen, Leslie A Parker
PMID 32697547WHAT IT FOUND
Antibiotics, feeding type, NICU surfaces and infant age were linked to gut bacteria in very low birth weight infants.
These microbiome changes were not shown to prove a treatment works or cause disease.
Key findings
01Antibiotic exposure was associated with lower intestinal microbiome diversity and richness, and with changes in specific bacterial groups in very low birth weight infants.
02Mother's own milk feeding was associated with high bacterial richness and diversity, and with more Bifidobacterium than donor milk or formula in very low birth weight infants.
03NICU environmental surfaces and enteral feeding tubes can carry microorganisms that also appear in infant stool, while single versus shared rooms did not influence microbiome development.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The review synthesized published studies, so studies that found no effect may be missing. Included studies used different methods and different definitions for feeding and antibiotic exposure, making comparison difficult. Most evidence is observational, so associations with gut bacteria do not prove cause. The clinical meaning of microbiome changes for NEC, sepsis or long-term health remains unclear. The review covered NICU hospitalization only and did not assess microbiome information after discharge.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that giving mother's own milk, reducing antibiotics or cleaning NICU surfaces has been proven to prevent NEC or sepsis. The review describes associations between these factors and infant gut bacteria, and it states that the clinical significance of microbiome changes remains unclear.