Clinical sequelae of gut microbiome development and disruption in hospitalized preterm infants

Abstract

Aberrant preterm infant gut microbiota assembly predisposes to early-life disorders and persistent health problems. Here, we characterize gut microbiome dynamics over the first 3 months of life in 236 preterm infants hospitalized in three neonatal intensive care units using shotgun metagenomics of 2,512 stools and metatranscriptomics of 1,381 stools. Strain tracking, taxonomic and functional profiling, and comprehensive clinical metadata identify Enterobacteriaceae, enterococci, and staphylococci as primarily exploiting available niches to populate the gut microbiome. Clostridioides difficile lineages persist between individuals in single centers, and Staphylococcus epidermidis lineages persist within and, unexpectedly, between centers. Collectively, antibiotic and non-antibiotic medications influence gut microbiome composition to greater extents than maternal or baseline variables. Finally, we identify a persistent low-diversity gut microbiome in neonates who develop necrotizing enterocolitis after day of life 40. Overall, we comprehensively describe gut microbiome dynamics in response to medical interventions in preterm, hospitalized neonates.