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Review
. 2016 Apr;38(4):733-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2016.02.003. Epub 2016 Mar 2.

The Developing Microbiome of the Preterm Infant

Mara E DiBartolomeo  1 , Erika C Claud  2
Affiliations
Review

The Developing Microbiome of the Preterm Infant

Mara E DiBartolomeo et al. Clin Ther. 2016 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the importance of the neonatal microbiome in intestinal and overall health.

Method: A review of existing literature.

Findings and implications: The microbiome is increasingly understood to have a significant role in health and disease. However, the microbiome of the preterm infant is unique, with simple microbial communities exposed to a consistent diet in a regulated environment, and development from naive to stable under the influence of the neonatal intensive care unit. This early microbiome encounters a still developing host and thus has the potential to program fundamental pathways with implications for neonatal and later outcomes.

Keywords: development; microbiome; necrotizing enterocolitis; preterm infant.

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References

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