Gut colonization in preterm infants supplemented with bovine colostrum in the first week of life: An explorative pilot study

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Background: In the first weeks after birth, enteral feeding and bacterial colonization interact to influence gut maturation in preterm infants. Bovine colostrum (BC) has been suggested as a relevant supplementary diet when own mother's milk (MM) is insufficient or absent. This pilot trial tests whether the supplement type, BC or donor human milk (DM), affects gut colonization in preterm infants during the first week of life. Methods: On day 7, fecal samples were collected from preterm infants (n = 24) fed BC or DM as a supplement to MM. The gut microbiome (GM) was analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing. Correlations between the relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa and blood chemistry variables, including amino acids, were explored. Results: BC-supplemented infants showed a lower relative abundance of the families Lactobacillaceae and Enterococcaceae than DM infants. Planococcaceae were more abundant in infants delivered by cesarean birth vs vaginally. The relative abundance of bacterial families, specifically Enterobacteriaceae, correlated negatively with plasma levels of multiple essential and nonessential amino acids (valine, isoleucine, lysine, histidine, and arginine). Conclusion: The nature of nutrition supplements (BC or DM) just after birth may affect GM development and nutrient metabolism in the neonatal period of preterm infants. The exploratory nature of our study calls for confirmation of these results and their possible long-term clinical implications for preterm infants.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
Volume46
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)592-599
ISSN0148-6071
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding information: :
This work is financially supported by the Innovation Fund Denmark under the Project NEOMUNE (Grant 12–132401 to Per Torp Sangild). Ping-Ping Jiang received support from the Sun Yat-sen University (2017181).

    Research areas

  • bovine colostrum, fecal microbiome, feeding type, preterm infants

ID: 273300044