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. 2018 Sep 20;9(9):182.
doi: 10.1038/s41424-018-0048-x.

Meconium microbiome associates with the development of neonatal jaundice

Tianyu Dong  1   2 , Ting Chen  3 , Richard Allen White 3rd  4 , Xu Wang  1   2 , Weiyue Hu  1   2 , Yali Liang  5 , Yuqing Zhang  1   2 , Chuncheng Lu  1   2 , Minjian Chen  1   2 , Heidi Aase  6 , Yankai Xia  7   8
Affiliations

Meconium microbiome associates with the development of neonatal jaundice

Tianyu Dong et al. Clin Transl Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Objective: Neonatal jaundice is a common disease that affects up to 60% of newborns. Gut microbiota mediated the excretion of bilirubin from the human body. However, the relationship between early gut microbiome and development of neonatal jaundice is not fully understood. Here we sought to characterize meconium microbiome of newborns and to clarify its association with risk of neonatal jaundice.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study with 301 newborns providing meconium samples from 2014 to 2015. The main outcome was the development of neonatal jaundice at 42 day follow-up. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to profile the meconium microbiome. LEfSe was employed to identify different features between control and case groups. Logistic regression was used to estimate the risk effect of early gut microbiome on neonatal jaundice.

Results: Logistic regression models suggested that higher ɑ-diversity was significantly associated with lower risk of jaundice in cesarean infants (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.52-0.98), but not in infants born naturally. Higher relative abundance of Bifidobacterium pseudolongum in newborn meconium was significantly associated with lower risk of jaundice both in cesarean-born infants and in the total subjects (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.07-0.68; OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.31-0.95, respectively). Spearman's correlations showed that relative abundance of B. pseudolongum was significantly correlated with ɑ-diversity (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: Preventive and treatment methods implying early gut microbiome intervention could be promising for the management of neonatal jaundice.

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Conflict of interest statement

Guarantor of the article: Yankai Xia.

Specific author contributions: T.D. contributed to the conception and design of the study, drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. T.C. drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. R.A.W. revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. X.W. performed the initial data analysis and interpreted data. W.H. performed the initial data analysis, interpreted data. Y.L. coordinated and supervised data and bio-sample collection. Y.Z. and M.C. coordinated and supervised data and bio-sample collection. C.L. and Y.X. contributed to the conception and design of the study, and reviewed and revised the manuscript critically. H.A. revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

Financial support: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81630085), Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Province, Six Talent Peaks Project of Jiangsu Province (JY-052), Second Level of Training Object of Jiangsu Province “333” Project, the Key Project for High-level Visiting Scholars (gxfxZD2016158), Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX17_1257).

Potential competing interest: None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Variability and diversity of the meconium microbiome.
a Constitution of microbiota among individuals sorted by relative abundance of Firmicutes. b PCoA plot based on unweighted unifrac distance by controls and cases. c Boxplot of Shannon index by controls and cases. d PCoA plot based on unweighted unifrac distance by delivery mode. e Boxplot of Shannon index by delivery mode
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Variability and diversity of the meconium microbiome of cesarean infants.
a Constitution of microbiota among cesarean newborns sorted by relative abundance of Firmicutes. b PCoA plot based on unweighted unifrac distance by controls and cases. c Boxplot of Shannon index by controls and cases. d, e Boxplot of proportion of functional genes by controls and cases
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Bar plot of the LDA Score (log10) between control and case groups in cesarean infants.
The left panel indicated higher abundance in the control group, and the right panel indicated higher abundance in the case group. B. pseudolongum is the abbreviation that stands for B. pseudolongum
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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