{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,17]],"date-time":"2026-01-17T18:19:43Z","timestamp":1768673983344,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,22]],"date-time":"2022-07-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1658448000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The newborn\u2019s microbiota composition at birth seems to be influenced by maternal microbiota. Maternal vaginal microbiota can be a determining factor of spontaneous Preterm Birth (SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup>), the leading cause of perinatal mortality. The aim of the study is to investigate the likelihood of a causal relationship between the maternal vaginal microbiota composition and neonatal lung and intestinal microbiota profile at birth, in cases of SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup>. The association between the lung and\/or meconium microbiota with the subsequent development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) was also investigated. Maternal vaginal swabs, newborns\u2019 bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) (1st, 3rd, 7th day of life) and first meconium samples were collected from 20 women and 23 preterm newborns with gestational age \u2264 30 weeks (12 = SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup>; 11 = Medically Indicated Preterm Birth\u2013MI<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup>). All the samples were analyzed for culture examination and for microbiota profiling using metagenomic analysis based on the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technique of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons. No significant differences in alpha e beta diversity were found between the neonatal BALF samples of SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup> group and the MI<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup> group. The vaginal microbiota of mothers with SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup> showed a significant difference in alpha diversity with a decrease in Lactobacillus and an increase in Proteobacteria abundance. No association was found between BALF and meconium microbiota with the development of BPD. Vaginal colonization by Ureaplasma bacteria was associated with increased risk of both SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup> and newborns\u2019 BPD occurrence. In conclusion, an increase in \u03b1-diversity values and a consequent fall in Lactobacillus in vaginal environment could be associated to a higher risk of SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup>. We could identify neither a specific neonatal lung or meconium microbiota profiles in preterm infants born by SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup> nor a microbiota at birth suggestive of subsequent BPD development. Although a strict match has not been revealed between microbiota of SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup> mother-infant couples, a relationship cannot be excluded. To figure out the reciprocal influence of the maternal-neonatal microbiota and its potential role in the pathogenesis of SP<jats:sup>PTB<\/jats:sup> and BPD further research is needed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2022.909962","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,22]],"date-time":"2022-07-22T07:19:53Z","timestamp":1658474393000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["The Relationship Between Maternal and Neonatal Microbiota in Spontaneous Preterm Birth: A Pilot Study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Chiara","family":"Tirone","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Angela","family":"Paladini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Flavio","family":"De Maio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Tersigni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"D\u2019Ippolito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nicoletta","family":"Di Simone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francesca Romana","family":"Monzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giulia","family":"Santarelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Delia Mercedes","family":"Bianco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Milena","family":"Tana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"Lio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nicoletta","family":"Menzella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Brunella","family":"Posteraro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maurizio","family":"Sanguinetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Lanzone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Scambia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Vento","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(08)60074-4","article-title":"Epidemiology and causes of preterm birth.","volume":"371","author":"Goldenberg","year":"2008","journal-title":"Lancet."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/scitranslmed.3008599","article-title":"The placenta harbors a unique microbiome.","volume":"6","author":"Aagaard","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci Transl Med."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0008205","article-title":"Differing prevalence and diversity of bacterial species in fetal membranes from very preterm and term labor.","volume":"4","author":"Jones","year":"2009","journal-title":"PLoS One."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0003056","article-title":"Microbial prevalence, diversity and abundance in amniotic fluid during preterm labor: a molecular and culture-based investigation.","volume":"3","author":"Di Giulio","year":"2008","journal-title":"PLoS One."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tig.2012.09.005","article-title":"Biodiversity and functional genomics in the human microbiome.","volume":"29","author":"Morgan","year":"2013","journal-title":"Trends Genet."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1038\/nri1373","article-title":"Interactions between commensal intestinal bacteria and the immune system.","volume":"4","author":"Macpherson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Nat Rev Immunol."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.1038\/nri2515","article-title":"The gut microbiota shapes intestinal immune responses during health and disease.","volume":"9","author":"Round","year":"2009","journal-title":"Nat Rev Immunol."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11971","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1002601107","article-title":"Delivery mode shapes the acquisition and structure of the initial microbiota across multiple body habitats in newborns.","volume":"107","author":"Dominguez-Bello","year":"2010","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1016\/j.earlhumdev.2010.01.004","article-title":"Mode of delivery affects the bacterial community in the newborn gut.","volume":"86","author":"Biasucci","year":"2010","journal-title":"Early Hum Dev."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"339","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clp.2018.01.008","article-title":"Relationships between perinatal interventions, maternal-infant microbiomes, and neonatal outcomes.","volume":"45","author":"Valentine","year":"2018","journal-title":"Clin Perinatol."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"397","DOI":"10.1097\/MPG.0b013e318282a8c2","article-title":"Histamine-2 receptor blockers alter the fecal microbiota in premature infants.","volume":"56","author":"Gupta","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e537","DOI":"10.1542\/neo.15-12-e537","article-title":"Placental microbiome and its role in preterm birth.","volume":"15","author":"Cao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Neoreviews."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1796S","DOI":"10.1093\/jn\/138.9.1796S","article-title":"Cesarean delivery may affect the early biodiversity of intestinal bacteria.","volume":"138","author":"Biasucci","year":"2008","journal-title":"J Nutr."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.1159\/000381124","article-title":"Lungs, microbes and the developing neonate.","volume":"107","author":"Warner","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neonatology."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"642","DOI":"10.1038\/nm.3568","article-title":"Lung microbiota promotes tolerance to allergens in neonates via PD-L1.","volume":"20","author":"Gollwitzer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nat Med."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"294","DOI":"10.1038\/pr.2014.85","article-title":"The airway microbiome of intubated premature infants: characteristics and changes that predict the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.","volume":"76","author":"Lohmann","year":"2014","journal-title":"Pediatr Res."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0025959","article-title":"Molecular identification of bacteria in tracheal aspirate fluid from mechanically ventilated preterm infants.","volume":"6","author":"Mourani","year":"2011","journal-title":"PLoS One."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1002\/pst.185","article-title":"Sample size of 12 per group rule of thumb for a pilot study.","volume":"4","author":"Julious","year":"2005","journal-title":"Pharmaceut Statist."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1723","DOI":"10.1164\/ajrccm.163.7.2011060","article-title":"Bronchopulmonary dysplasia.","volume":"163","author":"Jobe","year":"2001","journal-title":"Am J Respir Crit Care Med."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13099-019-0325-6","article-title":"First bloodstream infection caused by Prevotella copri in a heart failure elderly patient with Prevotella-dominated gut microbiota: a case report.","volume":"11","author":"Posteraro","year":"2019","journal-title":"Gut Pathog."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gks808","article-title":"Evaluation of general 16S ribosomal RNA gene PCR primers for classical and next-generation sequencing-based diversity studies.","volume":"41","author":"Klindworth","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13054-021-03623-4","article-title":"Staphylococcus aureus ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients with COVID-19: clinical features and potential inference with lung dysbiosis.","volume":"25","author":"De Pascale","year":"2021","journal-title":"Crit Care."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"852","DOI":"10.1038\/s41587-019-0209-9","article-title":"Reproducible, interactive, scalable and extensible microbiome data science using QIIME 2.","volume":"37","author":"Bolyen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat Biotechnol."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"581","DOI":"10.1038\/nmeth.3869","article-title":"DADA2: high-resolution sample inference from Illumina amplicon data.","volume":"13","author":"Callahan","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat Methods."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e00290","DOI":"10.1128\/mSystems.00290-19","article-title":"Controlling for contaminants in low-biomass 16S rRNA gene sequencing experiments.","volume":"4","author":"Karstens","year":"2019","journal-title":"mSystems."},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0061217","article-title":"phyloseq: an R package for reproducible interactive analysis and graphics of microbiome census data.","volume":"8","author":"McMurdie","year":"2013","journal-title":"PLoS One."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"441","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clp.2012.06.010","article-title":"Effects of chorioamnionitis on the fetal lung.","volume":"39","author":"Jobe","year":"2012","journal-title":"Clin Perinatol."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"267.e1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajog.2018.10.018","article-title":"Does the human placenta delivered at term have a microbiota? Results of cultivation, quantitative real-time PCR, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and metagenomics.","volume":"220","author":"Theis","year":"2019","journal-title":"Am J Obstet Gynecol."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-019-1451-5","article-title":"Human placenta has no microbiome but can contain potential pathogens.","volume":"572","author":"de Goffau","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nature."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/2049-2618-2-4","article-title":"The composition and stability of the vaginal microbiota of normal pregnant women is different from that of non-pregnant women.","volume":"2","author":"Romero","year":"2014","journal-title":"Microbiome."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2180-9-116","article-title":"Longitudinal analysis of the vaginal microflora in pregnancy suggests that L. crispatus promotes the stability of the normal vaginal microflora and that L. gasseri and\/or L. iners are more conducive to the occurrence of abnormal vaginal microflora.","volume":"9","author":"Verstraelen","year":"2009","journal-title":"BMC Microbiol."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/srep31023","article-title":"The airway microbiome at birth.","volume":"6","author":"Lal","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci Rep."},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s40168-017-0268-4","article-title":"A critical assessment of the \u201csterile womb\u201d and \u201cin utero colonization\u201d hypotheses: implications for research on the pioneer infant microbiome.","volume":"5","author":"Perez-Mu\u00f1oz","year":"2017","journal-title":"Microbiome."},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"851","DOI":"10.1038\/s41564-018-0202-y","article-title":"Recognizing the reagent microbiome.","volume":"3","author":"de Goffau","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat Microbiol."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s41479-018-0051-8","article-title":"How low can we go? The implications of low bacterial load in respiratory microbiota studies.","volume":"10","author":"Marsh","year":"2018","journal-title":"Pneumonia."},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"412","DOI":"10.1203\/PDR.0b013e3181d026c3","article-title":"Molecular microbiological characterization of preterm neonates at risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.","volume":"67","author":"Payne","year":"2010","journal-title":"Pediatr Res."},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0170120","article-title":"Airway microbial community turnover differs by BPD severity in ventilated preterm infants.","volume":"12","author":"Wagner","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One."},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2021.762545","article-title":"Respiratory tract microecology and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants.","volume":"9","author":"Sun","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Pediatr."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Pediatrics"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fped.2022.909962\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,22]],"date-time":"2022-07-22T07:19:55Z","timestamp":1658474395000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fped.2022.909962\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,22]]},"references-count":38,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fped.2022.909962"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fped.2022.909962","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-2360"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-2360","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,22]]},"article-number":"909962"}}