Blackmores Institute

At significant risk of morbidity due to extended stays in neo-natal intensive care units (NICUs) and through later life problems such as asthma and eczema, researchers have found that supplementing pre-term infants with probiotics can lead to a gastrointestinal environment that is more closely matched to full-term infants.
 
 “Our results show that preterm infants supplemented with B. bifidum and L. acidophilus contain a faecal microbiota composition and environment more similar to a healthy full-term breast-fed infant. We determined that certain clinical practices and relevant external factors may positively or negatively influence the abundances of Bifidobacterium within the preterm infant gut microbiota,” the authors reported.
 
 According to the study, abnormal patterns of bacterial colonisation are common in the preterm infant gut, which is dominated by genera containing potentially pathogenic bacteria (i.e., pathobionts) such as Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Escherichia, and Clostridium. 
 
 “These infants are also characterised by a low abundance or absence of the beneficial genera Bifidobacterium, which is dominant in the full-term infant gut. Thus, interventions to ‘normalise’ the preterm gut microbiota are an attractive proposition to improve health and prevent disease in preterm infants,” the authors explained.
 
 To determine whether preterm infants supplemented with Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, bacterial species associated with a healthy term infant gut, showed a modified preterm microbiota profile the observational study compared longitudinal samples from two cohorts of preterm infants; 101 orally supplemented with a combination of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus (Infloran, given twice daily with the first enteral feed) and 133 non-supplemented infants from NICUs not using probiotic supplementation. 
 
 “We determined that certain clinical practices and relevant external factors may positively or negatively influence the abundances of Bifidobacterium within the preterm infant gut microbiota. 
 
 “Diet is a major driver of microbiota diversity, particularly the strong relationship between breast milk and Bifidobacterium abundance. Although both groups of preterm infants received high rates of breast milk, via maternal or donor milk, the low abundance of Bifidobacterium found in control infants indicates breast milk consumption itself (without supplementation) was not sufficient to encourage high levels of Bifidobacterium. 
 
 “Providing maternal and donor breast milk may be required for successful persistence of Bifidobacterium, which may also contribute to the enhanced metabolic end-products such as acetate and lactate in the preterm gut. These products will play an important role in direct antagonism of potentially pathogenic microbes, and the maturation of immune cells in early life.”
 
 “This large-scale longitudinal observational multi-centre-controlled study emphasises the important role that targeted microbiota or probiotic supplementation plays in preterm infants, exerting beneficial modifications on preterm gut microbial communities, and metabolic end products,” the authors concluded.
 
 Source:
 Cell Reports Medicine. 2020. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100077" target="_blank">10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100077</a>

Pre-term infants may benefit from probiotic supplementation according to new research from the United Kingdom..

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