The use of culture-independent tools to characterize bacteria in endo-tracheal aspirates from pre-term infants at risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Although premature infants are increasingly surviving the neonatal period, up to one-third develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Despite evidence that bacterial colonization of the neonatal respiratory tract by certain bacteria may be a risk factor in BPD development, little is known about the role these bacteria play. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of culture-independent molecular profiling methodologies to identify potential etiological agents in neonatal airway secretions. This study used terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and clone sequence analyses to characterize bacterial species in endo-tracheal (ET) aspirates from eight intubated pre-term infants. A wide range of different bacteria was identified in the samples. Forty-seven T-RF band lengths were resolved in the sample set, with a range of 0-15 separate species in each patient. Clone sequence analyses confirmed the identity of individual species detected by T-RFLP. We speculate that the identification of known opportunistic pathogens including S. aureus, Enterobacter sp., Moraxella catarrhalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus sp., within the airways of pre-term infants, might be causally related to the subsequent development of BPD. Further, we suggest that culture-independent techniques, such as T-RFLP, hold important potential for the characterization of neonatal conditions, such as BPD.
Stressmann
Franziska A
FA
Molecular Microbiology Research Laboratory, Pharmaceutical Science Division, 150 Stamford Street, Franklin-Wilkins Building, King's College London, London, SE1 9NH, UK.
Connett
Gary J
GJ
Goss
Kevin
K
Kollamparambil
Tanoj G
TG
Patel
Nilesh
N
Payne
Matthew S
MS
Puddy
Victoria
V
Legg
Julian
J
Bruce
Kenneth D
KD
Rogers
Geraint B
GB
D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004754:Enterobacter / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000009:adverse effects; D001936:Moraxella catarrhalis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012307:Risk Factors; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014132:Trachea / Q000382:microbiology*
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S