Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Sinéad Ahearn-Ford, Dr Greg YoungORCiD, Professor Janet Berrington, Professor Nicholas EmbletonORCiD, Professor Christopher StewartORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Microbiome research focusing on late and moderate preterm infants (LMPT; 32 to 36 weeks gestation) is limited, despite rising LMPT births, large healthcare burdens, and increased risks of multiple morbidities, potentially microbially related. In this longitudinal cohort study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to analyze 371 stool and 402 saliva samples from 160 LMPT infants, collected at five time points between birth and 12 months corrected age (CA), to describe spatial and temporal variability in gut and oral microbiomes. Paired stool and saliva samples (n = 337) were analyzed for potential microbial relationships. Early LMPT samples (up to 60 days of life; DOL) were also compared with data from seven extremely preterm infants (EP; <28 weeks gestation; stool n = 14, saliva n = 14). LMPT stool and saliva were composed of distinct microbial communities at each time point, and both sample types showed increasing alpha diversity over time. Stool was initially dominated by Escherichia/Shigella, Klebsiella, and Streptococcus, with Bifidobacterium becoming dominant from term equivalent age (TEA). Contrarily, saliva was dominated by Streptococcus throughout the first year, with early contributions from Staphylococcus and later Veillonella. LMPT infants had higher stool and lower saliva diversity compared with EP infants. Both sample types from EP infants were taxonomically distinct from LMPTs, with Escherichia/Shigella dominating both EP sample types throughout the first 60 DOL. The results highlight the unique trajectories of LMPT microbiomes and emphasize the role of gestational maturity in shaping microbial communities.IMPORTANCEThe oral and gut microbiome develops from birth and plays important roles in health. This has been well studied in extremely preterm infants (EP; born <32 weeks gestation) and term infants (born >38 weeks gestation), but there is a paucity of research describing oral and gut microbiome development in late and moderate preterm infants (LMPT; 32 to 36 weeks gestation). Our study analyzed microbiome development in 160 LMPT infants from birth to 12 months corrected age. The results showed distinct microbial communities in stool and saliva, with increasing alpha diversity and niche specification over time. LMPT infants' gut microbiome became dominated by Bifidobacterium by month 3, while the oral community was consistently dominated by Streptococcus. These results highlight that LMPT infants have gut and oral microbiome development that is more like term infants than EP infants, which has important implications for the care of LMPT infants.
Author(s): Ahearn-Ford S, Kakaroukas A, Young GR, Nelson A, Abrahamse-Berkeveld M, van Elburg RM, Smith D, Berrington JE, Embleton ND, Stewart CJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: mSystems
Year: 2025
Volume: 10
Issue: 12
Print publication date: 17/12/2025
Online publication date: 24/11/2025
Acceptance date: 21/10/2025
Date deposited: 07/01/2026
ISSN (electronic): 2379-5077
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
URL: https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00667-25
DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00667-25
Data Access Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in the NCBI BioProject database at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/1200902, reference number PRJNA1200902
PubMed id: 41283679
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
