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. 2024 Jan-Dec;16(1):2410479.
doi: 10.1080/19490976.2024.2410479. Epub 2024 Oct 7.

Gut microbiota genome features associated with brain injury in extremely premature infants

David Seki  1   2   3   4 , Rasmus Kirkegaard  1   2 , Jay Osvatic  2   4 , Bela Hausmann  2   4 , Joana Séneca  1   2 , Petra Pjevac  1   2 , Angelika Berger  5 , Lindsay J Hall  3   6   7   8 , Lukas Wisgrill  5 , David Berry  1   3
Affiliations

Gut microbiota genome features associated with brain injury in extremely premature infants

David Seki et al. Gut Microbes. 2024 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Severe brain damage is common among premature infants, and the gut microbiota has been implicated in its pathology. Although the order of colonizing bacteria is well described, the mechanisms underlying aberrant assembly of the gut microbiota remain elusive. Here, we employed long-read nanopore sequencing to assess abundances of microbial species and their functional genomic potential in stool samples from a cohort of 30 extremely premature infants. We identify several key microbial traits significantly associated with severe brain damage, such as the genomic potential for nitrate respiration and iron scavenging. Members of the Enterobacteriaceae were prevalent across the cohort and displayed a versatile metabolic potential, including pathogenic and nonpathogenic traits. Predominance of Enterobacter hormaechei and Klebsiella pneumoniae were associated with an overall loss of genomic functional redundancy as well as poor neurophysiological outcome. These findings reveal microbial traits that may be involved in exacerbating brain injury in extremely premature infants and provide suitable targets for therapeutic interventions.

Keywords: Enterobacteriaceae; Perinatal white matter injury; extremely premature infants; gut-microbiota-brain axis; inflammation; nanopore metagenomics; nitrate; siderophores.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Species-level composition of the gut microbiota in extremely premature infants.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Functional potential of gut microbiota in extremely premature infants.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Genetic traits of pathobionts and commensals.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Microbial metabolism in premature infants with severe brain damage.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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