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. 2020 May 7;20(1):195.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-020-02067-z.

Dynamics of the bacterial gut microbiota in preterm and term infants after intravenous amoxicillin/ceftazidime treatment

Romy D Zwittink  1 , Diny van Zoeren-Grobben  2 , Ingrid B Renes  3 , Richard A van Lingen  2 , Obbe F Norbruis  2 , Rocio Martin  3 , Liesbeth J Groot Jebbink  2 , Jan Knol  1   3 , Clara Belzer  4
Affiliations

Dynamics of the bacterial gut microbiota in preterm and term infants after intravenous amoxicillin/ceftazidime treatment

Romy D Zwittink et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: It is important to understand the consequences of pre-emptive antibiotic treatment in neonates, as disturbances in microbiota development during this key developmental time window might affect early and later life health outcomes. Despite increasing knowledge regarding the detrimental effect of antibiotics on the gut microbiota, limited research focussed on antibiotic treatment duration. We determined the effect of short and long amoxicillin/ceftazidime administration on gut microbiota development during the immediate postnatal life of preterm and term infants.

Methods: Faeces was collected from 63 (pre) term infants at postnatal weeks one, two, three, four and six. Infants received either no (control), short-term (ST) or long-term (LT) postpartum amoxicillin/ceftazidime treatment.

Results: Compared to control infants, ST and LT infants' microbiota contained significantly higher abundance of Enterococcus during the first two postnatal weeks at the expense of Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus. Short and long antibiotic treatment both allowed for microbiota restoration within the first six postnatal weeks. However, Enterococcus and Bifidobacterium abundances were affected in fewer ST than LT infants.

Conclusions: Intravenous amoxicillin/ceftazidime administration affects intestinal microbiota composition by decreasing the relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella and Streptococcus, while increasing the relative abundance of Enterococcus and Lactobacillus species during the first two postnatal weeks. Thriving of enterococci at the expense of bifidobacteria and streptococci should be considered as aspect of the cost-benefit determination for antibiotic prescription.

Keywords: Antibiotics; Gut microbiota; Infant; Next generation sequencing; Preterm.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors IBR, RM and JK are employees of Danone Nutricia Research. The authors RDZ and CB were financially supported by Danone Nutricia Research.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Microbiota composition profiles in control, ST and LT infants during the first six postnatal weeks, with a focus on Bifidobacterium and Enterococcus. Bar graphs: Average relative abundances per time point are shown. Line graphs: Mean ± 95% confidence interval are shown
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Fraction of infants in which Bifidobacterium (a) or Enterococcus (b) was an abundant member of the bacterial community. An abundant member was defined as a relative abundance of ≥10%
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Community richness and diversity during the first six postnatal weeks in control (a), ST (b) and LT (c) infants. Boxplots show the median, 25th and 75th percentiles, and minimal and maximal values with the exception of outliers (circles) and extremes (asterisks). Differences in richness and diversity between time points were determined using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test with Monte Carlo permutation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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