ReviewFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2019
The Preterm Gut Microbiota: An Inconspicuous Challenge in Nutritional Neonatal Care.
Review in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
108 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of probiotic on anxiety and depression symptoms in pregnant and lactating women and microbiota of infants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Synbiotic supplementation leads to gut microbiome communities with functional capacity linked to better brain white matter development in preterm infants.Gut microbes · 2026Trial
- Efficacy ofFrontiers in nutrition · 2026Trial
- Gut microbiota development in very preterm infants following fortification of human milk.mSystems · 2025Trial
- The Effectiveness of Heat-KilledNutrients · 2024Trial
- Reversible aberrancies in gut microbiome of moderate and late preterm infants: results from a randomized, controlled trial.Gut microbes · 2023Trial
- Early Probiotic Supplementation of Healthy Term Infants withNutrients · 2023Trial
- Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) exposures exert a sustained influence on the progression of gut microbiota and metabolome in the first year of life.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Human milk microbiome as a modulator of the early-life gut-brain axis: mechanisms and translational opportunities for neurodevelopment.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Nutritional management at 22-23 weeks gestational age: evidence and knowledge gaps.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Maternal and infant gut microbiome.iMeta · 2026Review
- Maternal Metformin Exposure Induces Gut Microbial Shifts in Non-Diabetic Dams and Sex-Stratified Changes in Mouse Offspring.Biomolecules · 2026Article
- Meconium Microbiome Maturation Patterns Linked to Postnatal Growth Failure in Neonates.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Lactic Acid Bacteria-derived Bacteriocins: A Promising Antimicrobial Strategy against Multidrug-resistant for Neonatal Sepsis Pathogens.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- Impact of targeted infection prevention and control interventions on bloodstream infections and colonization with carbapenem-resistant organisms among hospitalized neonates, Bangladesh, 2023-2024.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- Early empiric antibiotic exposure affects gut microbiota development of very preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Temporal dynamics of gut microbiota and virome in preterm infants: insights from longitudinal metagenomic analysis.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Programming the Infant Gut: How Maternal and Early Life Nutrition Shape the Infant Microbiome and Long-term Health-A Narrative Review.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Review
- Dynamic Interactions between the Gut Microbiome, Health, and Metabolic Disorders in Preterm Infants.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Review
- Dual-strain probiotics Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus acidophilus reverse gut dysbiosis in preterm neonates: a randomized controlled trial.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2025Article
48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The nutritional requirements of preterm infants are unique and challenging to meet in neonatal care, yet crucial for their growth, development and health. Normally, the gut microbiota has distinct metabolic capacities, making their role in metabolism of dietary components indispensable. In preterm infants, variation in microbiota composition is introduced while facing a unique set of environmental conditions. However, the effect of such variation on the microbiota's metabolic capacity and on the preterm infant's growth and development remains unresolved. In this review, we will provide a holistic overview on the development of the preterm gut microbiota and the unique environmental conditions contributing to this, in addition to maturation of the gastrointestinal tract and immune system in preterm infants. The role of prematurity, as well as the role of human milk, in the developmental processes is emphasized. Current research stresses the early life gut microbiota as cornerstone for simultaneous development of the gastrointestinal tract and immune system. Besides that, literature provides clues that prematurity affects growth and development. As such, this review is concluded with our hypothesis that prematurity of the gut microbiota may be an inconspicuous clinical challenge in achieving optimal feeding besides traditional challenges, such as preterm breast milk composition, high nutritional requirements and immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract and immune system. A better understanding of the metabolic capacity of the gut microbiota and its impact on gut and immune maturation in preterm infants could complement current feeding regimens in future neonatal care and thereby facilitate growth, development and health in preterm infants.
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