A Systematic Review of Associations Between Gut Microbiota Composition and Growth Failure in Preterm Neonates

Authors

Larissa L Neves
Amy B Hair
Geoffrey A Preidis

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Journal

Gut Microbes

DOI

10.1080/19490976.2023.2190301

PMID

36927287

PMCID

PMC10026866

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-16-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Infant, Infant, Newborn, Humans, Infant, Premature, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Feces, Microbiota, Enterobacteriaceae, Growth failure, gut microbiome, malnutrition, neonate, postnatal growth, preterm infant, underweight

Abstract

Growth failure is among the most prevalent and devastating consequences of prematurity. Up to half of all extremely preterm neonates struggle to grow despite modern nutrition practices. Although elegant preclinical models suggest causal roles for the gut microbiome, these insights have not yet translated into biomarkers that identify at-risk neonates or therapies that prevent or treat growth failure. This systematic review aims to identify features of the neonatal gut microbiota that are positively or negatively associated with early postnatal growth. We identified 860 articles, of which 14 were eligible for inclusion. No two studies used the same definitions of growth, ages at stool collection, and statistical methods linking microbiota to metadata. In all, 58 different taxa were associated with growth, with little consensus among studies. Two or more studies reported positive associations with Enterobacteriaceae,