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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2017 Jan;37(1):36-41.
doi: 10.1038/jp.2016.161. Epub 2016 Sep 29.

Oral colostrum priming shortens hospitalization without changing the immunomicrobial milieu

Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Oral colostrum priming shortens hospitalization without changing the immunomicrobial milieu

J Romano-Keeler et al. J Perinatol. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: Oral colostrum priming (OCP) after birth in preterm infants is associated with improved weight gain and modification of the oral immunomicrobial environment. We hypothesized that OCP would modify salivary immune peptides and the oral microbiota in preterm infants.

Study design: We conducted a prospective, randomized clinical trial to determine the effects of OCP on salivary immune peptide representation in preterm infants (<32 weeks completed gestation at birth). Saliva samples were collected before and after OCP. Salivary immune peptide representation was determined via mass spectroscopy. Oral microbiota representation was determined via sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.

Results: Neonates who received OCP (n=48) had a 16-day reduction in the median length of hospitalization as compared with infants who did not receive OCP (n=51). No differences in salivary immune peptide sequence representation before OCP between groups were found. Longitudinal changes in peptides were detected (lysozyme C, immunoglobulin A, lactoferrin) but were limited to a single peptide difference (α-defensin 1) between primed and unprimed infants after OCP. We found no difference in microbial diversity between treatment groups at any time point, but diversity decreased significantly over time in both groups. OCP treatment marginally modified oral taxa with a decline in abundance of Streptococci in the OCP group at 30 days of life.

Conclusions: OCP had neither an effect on the salivary peptides we examined nor on overall oral bacterial diversity and composition. Infants who received OCP had a reduced length of hospitalization and warrants further investigation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. CONSORT diagram
Figure 2
Figure 2. The impact of oral colostrum priming on diversity of the oral microbiota
Shannon diversity index by group and time point. OCP-oral colostrum priming. Time points: 1 (1–2 days of life), 2 (8–9 days of life), 3 (30 days of life). Box represents 25th ad 75th percentiles, line represents median, whiskers represent maximum and minimum, and plus signs represent outliers.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Unweighted unifrac principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of oral microbiota by time point and time point/ treatment group
A. PCoA by sample time point. 1–2 days of life (n=28): white; 8–9 days of life (n=28): blue; 30 days of life (n=18): black. B. PCoA analysis by sample time point and treatment group. 1–2 days of life: white (n=14, no OCP), light grey (n=14, OCP); 8–9 days of life: light blue (n=14, no OCP), blue (n=14, OCP); 30 days of life: dark grey (n=11, no OCP), black (n=7, OCP). C. Bacterial taxa represented by group and time point. OCP-oral colostrum priming. Time points: 1 (1–2 days of life), 2 (8–9 days of life), 3 (30 days of life). Only the most relevant taxa are represented in the genus figure (bottom portion of C.).

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