hPOD trial - nested gut microbiome study

Neonatal hypoglycaemia is common and may be one of the most readily preventable causes of neurodevelopmental impairment. Prophylactic dextrose gel can reduce the incidence of hypoglycaemia in infants at risk and is therefore widely used as a cost-effective and easy-to-administer first-line treatment. Clinicians and parents have expressed concerns about the possibility that dextrose gel administration to the neonate may affect the developing neonatal gut microbiome and hence potentially influence future health. This trial sought to determine whether early dextrose gel administration altered the neonatal gut microbiome.Infants at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia whose parents consented to participation in the hPOD (hypoglycaemia Prevention in newborns with Oral Dextrose) trial. Infants were randomised to receive prophylactic dextrose gel or placebo gel, or were not randomised and received no gel (controls). Stool samples were collected on days 1, 7 and 28. Stool samples from 165 infants were analysed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.