Influence from the intestinal microbiota of neonate on early child development.

OBJECTIVE: The early-life microbiome is gaining appreciation as a major influencer in human development and long-term health. The present study explored the influence from the intestinal microbiota of neonate on early child development. METHODS: The first internal discharge was collected from the Beijing Birth Cohort Study (BBCS) located in Beijing, China. Then these children were followed up using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ). 77 children were found with at least one domain of developmental delay, and 259 children with no delays were randomly selected as control group, as a nested case-control study. Their meconium microbiome were profiled using multi-barcode 16 S rRNA sequencing at V1-V9 hypervariable region. RESULTS: There were significant difference in alpha-diversity and beta-diversity measures of intestinal microbiota between groups of children with or without developmental delays(P<0.05), as group of children with developmental delays had less diversity in intestinal microbiota. And there were significant differences on the species composition as well. On genus level, linear discriminant analysis effect size (LefSe) showed higher abundances of Serratia, Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia, and Enterococcus in the group with developmental delays. It indicated that the lower diversity of intestinal microbiota, and higher abundances of certain intestinal microbiota might be related to developmental delays. CONCLUSION: There were significant differences in the intestinal microbiota of neonate between children with or without developmental delays. Lower diversity of intestinal microbiota, and higher abundances of certain intestinal microbiota might be related to developmental delays.