Gut Microbiota and Metabolome Description of Antibiotic-Treated Neonates From Parturients With Intrauterine Infection

Intrauterine infection is linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women. Neonates from parturients with intrauterine infection are usually treated with antibiotics, but their gut microbiota and metabolome are seldom studied. In this study, we collected fecal samples from antibiotic-treated neonates of parturients with intrauterine infection (intrauterine infection group), parturients with non-intrauterine infection (antibiotic group), and untreated neonates of healthy parturients (control group). 16S rRNA gene sequencing and untargeted metabolomics analyses were performed. Our results revealed that the alpha-diversity of intrauterine infection group differed from that of control group. There were significant differences in beta-diversity between intrauterine infection group and control group, between antibiotic group and the control group, but there was no difference between the intrauterine infection and antibiotic groups, implying that antibiotic use has an obvious effect on beta-diversity and that the effects of intrauterine infection on beta-diversity cannot be identified. Enterococcus was more abundant in intrauterine infection and antibiotic groups than in control group. Gut metabolite differences in intrauterine infection group and antibiotic group (only in negative ion mode) from control group were observed, but no difference between intrauterine infection group and antibiotic group was observed. N-formyl-L-methionine was the most discriminant metabolite between intrauterine infection group and control group. Primary and secondary bile acid biosynthesis, bile secretion, and cholesterol metabolism pathways were altered, and the abundances of bile acids and bile salts were altered in intrauterine infection group compared with control group. Alterations in cholesterol metabolism, arginine biosynthesis and bile secretion pathways were observed both in intrauterine infection and antibiotic groups, which might be caused by the use of antibiotics. In conclusion, we provided a preliminary description of the gut microbiota and gut metabolites in antibiotics-treated neonates from intrauterine infection parturients. Our findings did not show intrauterine infection has a separate role in neonatal gut microbiota dysbiosis, while supporting the idea that antibiotics should be used with caution during neonatal therapy.