FEATURES OF THE INTESTINAL MICROBIOME FORMATION AND THE LEVEL OF INTESTINAL INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE IN NEWBORNS

Serhiy V.  Popov; Anastasiia O.  Profatylo; Mark A.  Turner; Euan  McDonnell; Eva Caamañno  Gutiéerrez; Anthony  Evans; Oleksandr I.  Smiyan; Svitlana I.  Bokova

doi:10.21272/eumj.2025;13(1):159-167

Serhiy V. Popov Pediatrics Department, Academic and Research Medical Institute, Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine; Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1789-1474
Anastasiia O. Profatylo Children's Clinical Hospital of St. Zinaida, Sumy, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8032-7323
Mark A. Turner Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5299-8656
Euan McDonnell Computational Biology Facility, LIV-SRF, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3129-4278
Eva Caamañno Gutiéerrez Computational Biology Facility, LIV-SRF, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7737-5941
Anthony Evans Computational Biology Facility, LIV-SRF, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8547-1730
Oleksandr I. Smiyan Pediatrics Department, Academic and Research Medical Institute, Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8225-0975
Svitlana I. Bokova Department of Internal and Family Medicine, Academic and Research Medical Institute, Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3426-9150

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21272/eumj.2025;13(1):159-167

Keywords: Faecal calprotectin, newborns, neonatal period

Abstract

Objectives. We aim to explore the relationship between the composition of the faecal bacterial flora and the level of faecal calprotectin (FC) in sequential assessments of healthy term newborns.

Methods. The study was conducted thrice during the second, third, and fifth weeks of life. Culture method was used to identify the composition of intestinal microbiome indicators. FC levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Mixed-effects linear modelling were applied to test for associations between calprotectin and various clinically relevant covariates/factors.

Results. Thirty-two infants were studied. Levels of Bifidobacterium was for children two weeks old (mean, standard deviation) – 8.91±1.47 CFU/g, for three weeks old – 8.44±1.58 CFU/g and for five weeks old – 8.09±1.49 CFU/g and Lactobacilli number for two weeks old – 7.69±1.15 CFU/g was higher than for three weeks old – 7.13±1.45 CFU/g and for five weeks old – 6.75±1.87 CFU/g. Level of FC for two weeks old was 280.6±123.68 mg/l, for three weeks old – 195.3±115.5 mg/l and for five weeks old – 153.5±34.6 mg/l. FC decreased with time and was higher in the presence of colonisation with Bifidobacterium, Lactobacilli, E.coli, and Opportunistic/Conditional pathogens.

Conclusions. The number of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacilli decreased during the neonatal period. FC also decreased but was higher in newborns colonised with Bifidobacterium, Lactobacilli, E.coli, and Opportunistic/Conditional pathogens, which apparently reflected stabilised composition of the microbiome and associated change in inflammatory processes.

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