Microbe host interactions in the infant gut: Translating knowledge to the Clinic and to the Marketplace

Lead Researcher:

Dr Mary

Award Date:

5 March 2014

Host Institution:

University College Cork

Scheme:

O'Connell Motherway

Summary:

Premature birth (<37weeks gestation) can cause severe short and long term health problems. Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is an inflammatory bowel necrosis and is the most common gastrointestinal infection in premature infants, with an occurrence ranging from 1 - 5% of all neonatal intensive care unit admissions. The cause of NEC is poorly understood, as yet there is no specific therapy and morbidity and mortality are significant outcomes of this disease. The administration of probiotics to preterm infants has been positive, however, to date such studies have been small and different probiotics have been used. In general, probiotic administration to preterm infants resulted in improvements in terms of weight gain, feeding tolerance, and reduced incidence of infections such as sepsis, urinary tract infections and NEC. The precise mechanisms by which probiotics bring about these positive health outcomes in preterm infants remains unknown. Here we propose to adopt a multidisciplinary approach involving microbiologists, molecular biologists, neonatologists, immunologists and clinicians to provide scientific evidence on how probiotics can prevent NEC. We will employ a preterm NEC rat model to evaluate a range of probiotic strains, in particular bifidobacteria, which are the dominant natural colonizers of a healthy infant gut, for their potential to prevent NEC. In addition we will exploit our expertise in functional genomics of probiotic bacteria to underpin the precise molecular mechanisms of probiotic host interaction in the preterm infant gut. The scientific evidence generated will be used to guide practicioners in probiotic strain selection and administration.