PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cristina Alcon-Giner
AU  - Matthew J. Dalby
AU  - Shabhonam Caim
AU  - Jennifer Ketskemety
AU  - Alex Shaw
AU  - Kathleen Sim
AU  - Melissa Lawson
AU  - Raymond Kiu
AU  - Charlotte Leclaire
AU  - Lisa Chalklen
AU  - Magdalena Kujawska
AU  - Suparna Mitra
AU  - Fahmina Fardus-Reid
AU  - Gustav Belteki
AU  - Katherine Lloyd
AU  - Jonathan R. Swann
AU  - J. Simon Kroll
AU  - Paul Clarke
AU  - Lindsay J. Hall
TI  - Microbiota supplementation with <em>Bifidobacterium</em> and <em>Lactobacillus</em> modifies the preterm infant gut microbiota and metabolome
AID  - 10.1101/698092
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 698092
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/07/11/698092.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/07/11/698092.full
AB  - Supplementation with members of the early-life microbiota or ‘probiotics’ is becoming increasingly popular to attempt to beneficially manipulate the preterm gut microbiota. We performed a large longitudinal study comprising two preterm groups; 101 orally supplemented with Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus (Bif/Lacto) and 133 non-supplemented (Control) matched by age, sex, birth-mode, and diet. 16S rRNA metataxonomic profiling on stool samples (n = 592) indicated a predominance of Bifidobacterium, and a reduction of pathobionts in the Bif/Lacto group. Metabolic phenotyping found a parallel increase in fecal acetate and lactate in the Bif/Lacto group compared to the Control group, which positively correlated with Bifidobacterium abundance consistent with the ability of the supplemented Bifidobacterium strain to metabolize human milk oligosaccharides and reduced gut pH. This study demonstrates that microbiota supplementation can modify the preterm microbiome and the gastrointestinal environment to more closely resemble that of a full-term infant.