Gut Injury and the Microbiome in Neonates

Abstract

The causes of neonatal gut injury are multifactorial and include ischemia, tissue hypoxia due to anemia, excessive inflammation, deficiency of growth factors, and food protein sensitivity. The developing intestinal microbiome plays a role in some of these forms of intestinal injury but knowledge of its relative role in each remains poorly understood. Commensal bacteria are required for normal immune development and immune tolerance. Dysbiosis in the neonatal gut that alters the patterns of commensal and pathogenic bacteria may accentuate gut injury.

Keywords: Gut; Inflammation; Injury; Metagenomics; Microbiome; Neonate; Sequencing.