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. 2011:2011:130574.
doi: 10.1155/2011/130574. Epub 2010 Aug 3.

Parenteral antibiotics reduce bifidobacteria colonization and diversity in neonates

Séamus Hussey  1 , Rebecca Wall, Emma Gruffman, Lisa O'Sullivan, C Anthony Ryan, Brendan Murphy, Gerald Fitzgerald, Catherine Stanton, R Paul Ross
Affiliations

Parenteral antibiotics reduce bifidobacteria colonization and diversity in neonates

Séamus Hussey et al. Int J Microbiol. 2011.

Abstract

We investigated the impact of parenteral antibiotic treatment in the early neonatal period on the evolution of bifidobacteria in the newborn. Nine babies treated with intravenous ampicillin/gentamicin in the first week of life and nine controls (no antibiotic treatment) were studied. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to investigate the composition of Bifidobacterium in stool samples taken at four and eight weeks. Bifidobacteria were detected in all control infants at both four and eight weeks, while only six of nine antibiotic-treated infants had detectable bifidobacteria at four weeks and eight of nine at eight weeks. Moreover, stool samples of controls showed greater diversity of Bifidobacterium spp. compared with antibiotic-treated infants. In conclusion, short-term parenteral antibiotic treatment of neonates causes a disturbance in the expected colonization pattern of bifidobacteria in the first months of life. Further studies are required to probiotic determine if supplementation is necessary in this patient group.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
DGGE of bifidobacterial PCR-products (V3-region) from stool samples taken at four weeks of age from infants treated with antibiotics D–I (a) and controls J–R (b). The mobility of the PCR products obtained in DGGE was compared to the PCR pattern of reference strains obtained with the same primer set.
Figure 2
Figure 2
DGGE of bifidobacterial PCR-products (V3-region) from stool samples taken at eight weeks of age from infants treated with antibiotics B–I (a) and controls J–R (b). The mobility of the PCR products obtained in DGGE was compared to the PCR pattern of reference strains obtained with the same primer set.
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