Study of the gut microbiome profile in full-term infants with necrotizing enterocolits

Abstract

BACKGROUND Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe gastrointestinal disease that primarily affects preterm. Recently, cases with similar clinical manifestations have been observed in full-term infants without Hirschsprung’s disease. Dysbiosis suggested to have role in development of NEC. AIM To compare the gut microbiome composition between full term infants with NEC and healthy controls and to evaluate the impact of feeding sources on microbial diversity. METHODS Ten full term infants with NEC and six matched healthy breastfed control infants were enrolled in the study. Triplicate stool samples were collected from the enrolled infants. Genomic DNA was isolated and subjected to polymerase chain reaction analysis. RESULTS Bacteroidetes and Bacteroides were more abundant in control infants than in NEC cases, although the differences were statistically insignificant (P = 0.118 and P = 0.147, respectively), with large and moderate effect sizes. Bifidobacteria levels were significantly greater when a relaxed threshold (P ≤ 0.1) was used in both the control and NEC breastfed groups than in the NEC formula-fed group (P = 0.098). Additionally, alpha diversity was significantly reduced at the 0.1 level in NEC patients, especially among formula-fed infants (P = 0.094). CONCLUSION Full-term Egyptian infants with NEC exhibit reduced microbial diversity and alterations in bacterial abundance, supporting a potential link between dysbiosis and NEC. Feeding practices, particularly breastfeeding, appear to influence the gut microbiome profile regardless of NEC status. Although Bacteroidetes and Bacteroides did not reach statistical significance, their effect sizes suggest a need for further investigation into their roles in NEC pathogenesis in full-term infants.