Brain injury in premature infants may be related to abnormal colonization of early intestinal flora

Objective: To compare the characteristics and differences in the intestinal flora of preterm infants with brain injury and normal preterm infants.Methods: Twenty-one premature infants with brain injury (brain injury group) and 17 premature infants without brain injury (control group) were enrolled in the study. Fecal samples from the infants 1, 3, and 7 days post-birth were collected and subjected to 16S sequencing. Alpha diversity analysis was used to evaluate the diversity of intestinal flora. LEfSe and DESeq2 were used to analyze the characteristic microorganisms and distinguish microorganisms with significant differences between the two groups.Results: A total of 1609 OTUs were obtained from 81 successfully sequenced samples. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinomycetes, and Enterococcus were the dominant bacteria. The relative abundance of Actinomycota was significantly higher in the control group than in the brain injury group. Three days after birth, the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria was significantly higher in the brain injury group than that in the control group. The relative abundance of Bifidobacterium was significantly higher in the control group than in the brain injury group. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria were the different abundant bacteria in the brain injury and control groups, respectively. Three days after birth, the Shannon and Simpson indices of the control group were significantly higher than those of the brain injury group.Conclusion: Brain injury in premature infants may be related to the abnormal colonization of early intestinal flora, which manifests as a decrease in the diversity of intestinal flora.