The Microbiome and Metabolome of Preterm Infant Stool Are Personalized and Not Driven by Health Outcomes, Including Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Late-Onset Sepsis

The assembly and development of the gut microbiome in infants have important consequences for immediate and long-term health. Preterm infants represent an abnormal case for bacterial colonization because of early exposure to bacteria and frequent use of antibiotics. To better understand the assembly of the gut microbiota in preterm infants, fecal samples were collected from 32 very low birth weight preterm infants over the first 6 weeks of life. Infant health outcomes included health, late-onset sepsis, and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). We characterized bacterial compositions by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolomes by untargeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Preterm infant fecal samples lacked beneficial Bifidobacterium spp. and were dominated by Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus, and Staphylococcus organisms due to nearly uniform antibiotic administration. Most of the variance between the microbial community compositions could be attributed to the baby from which the sample derived (permutational multivariate analysis of variance [PERMANOVA] R(2) = 0.48, P < 0.001), while clinical status (health, NEC, or late-onset sepsis) and overlapping times in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) did not explain a significant amount of variation in bacterial composition. Fecal metabolomes were also found to be unique to the individual (PERMANOVA R(2) = 0.43, P < 0.001) and weakly associated with bacterial composition (Mantel statistic r = 0.23 ± 0.05, P < 0.05). No measured metabolites were found to be associated with necrotizing enterocolitis, late-onset sepsis, or a healthy outcome. Overall, preterm infant gut microbial communities were personalized and reflected antibiotic usage. IMPORTANCE Preterm infants face health problems likely related to microbial exposures, including sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis. However, the role of the gut microbiome in preterm infant health is poorly understood. Microbial colonization differs from that of healthy term babies because it occurs in the NICU and is often perturbed by antibiotics. We measured bacterial compositions and metabolomic profiles of 77 fecal samples from 32 preterm infants to investigate the differences between microbiomes in health and disease. Rather than finding microbial signatures of disease, we found that both the preterm infant microbiome and the metabolome were personalized and that the preterm infant gut microbiome is enriched in microbes that commonly dominate in the presence of antibiotics. These results contribute to the growing knowledge of the preterm infant microbiome and emphasize that a personalized view will be important to disentangle the health consequences of the preterm infant microbiome.