title: Mucosa-associated bacterial diversity in necrotizing enterocolitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies of infant fecal samples have failed to clarify the role of gut bacteria in the pathogenesis of NEC. We sought to characterize bacterial communities within intestinal tissue resected from infants with and without NEC.
  
  
  METHODS
  26 intestinal samples were resected from 19 infants, including 16 NEC samples and 10 non-NEC samples. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences were amplified and sequenced. Analysis allowed for taxonomic identification, and quantitative PCR was used to quantify the bacterial load within samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NEC samples generally contained an increased total burden of bacteria. NEC and non-NEC sample sets were both marked by high inter-individual variability and an abundance of opportunistic pathogens. There was no statistically significant distinction between the composition of NEC and non-NEC microbial communities. K-means clustering enabled us to identify several stable clusters, including clusters of NEC and midgut volvulus samples enriched with Clostridium and Bacteroides. Another cluster containing both NEC and non-NEC samples was marked by an abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and decreased diversity among NEC samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that NEC is a disease without a uniform pattern of microbial colonization, but that NEC is associated with an abundance of strict anaerobes and a decrease in community diversity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brower-Sinning
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Misty
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Good
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Firek
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Chhinder P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Sodhi
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hackam
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Morowitz
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D044822:Biodiversity; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial