The development of gut microbiota in critically ill extremely low birth weight infants assessed with 16S rRNA gene based sequencing

Abstract

High prevalence and abundance of potentially pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcaceae with low prevalence and abundance of colonization resistance providing taxa bifidobacteria, Bacteroides and lactobacilli may lead to high infection risk via microbial translocation from the gut. Additionally, our data suggest that maternal chorioamnionitis may have an effect on the diversity of infants' gut microbiota; however, the mechanisms involved remain to be elucidated.