Abstract
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is chronic lung disease of prematurity and associated with substantial long-term disabilities. To characterize and compare the nasal swabs microbiome of early stage in premature infants and determine whether microbial diversity or composition in the airway associated with BPD disease. We performed a prospective observational cohort design. Preterm neonates less than 32 weeks of gestation were recruited from NICU, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from 2019 to 2020. Sterile foam swabs were collected from anterior nares at 1 and 3 weeks of postnatal age. We used PCR amplification and 16S rDNA sequencing. Neonatal demographic data including gestational age, birth weight, medication administration history were recorded. A total of 98 nasal swabs samples were collected from 54 preterm infants, 13 developed BPD infants and 41 control infants were finally involved in the study. Birth weights ranged from 700 to 2,050 g. Gestational age ranged from 25 2/7to 31 6/7. We found increased in the expression of Prevotella, Marinomonas, Enterobacteriaceae, Weissella, Selenomonas, Oribacterium, Nubsella and Antricoccus in BPD group at two time points. Prevotella was correlated with the severity of BPD (Spearman r=0.361, P=0.000). Given possible roles for noninvasive upper airway microbiota in BPD pathobiology, the nasal microbiome in BPD is a compelling area of research to continue to expand.