Optimisation of 16S rRNA gut microbiota profiling of extremely low birth weight infants.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Infants born prematurely, particularly extremely low birth weight infants (ELBW) have altered gut microbial communities. Factors such as maternal health, gut immaturity, delivery mode, and antibiotic treatments are associated with microbiota disturbances, and are linked to an increased risk of certain diseases such as necrotising enterocolitis. Therefore, there is a requirement to optimally characterise microbial profiles in this at-risk cohort, via standardisation of methods, particularly for studying the influence of microbiota therapies (e.g. probiotic supplementation) on community profiles and health outcomes. Profiling of faecal samples using the 16S rRNA gene is a cost-efficient method for large-scale clinical studies to gain insights into the gut microbiota and ad

SUBMITTER: Alcon-Giner C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5668952 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature