title: The Developing Microbiome of the Preterm Infant.
abstract: To determine the importance of the neonatal microbiome in intestinal and overall health.
  
  
  
  A review of existing literature.
  
  
  
  The microbiome is increasingly understood to have a significant role in health and disease. However, the microbiome of the preterm infant is unique, with simple microbial communities exposed to a consistent diet in a regulated environment, and development from naive to stable under the influence of the neonatal intensive care unit. This early microbiome encounters a still developing host and thus has the potential to program fundamental pathways with implications for neonatal and later outcomes.
authors.affiliation: The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Mara E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: DiBartolomeo
authors.affiliation: The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Electronic address: eclaud@peds.bsd.uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Erika C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Claud
mesh_terms: D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature
keywords: development; microbiome; necrotizing enterocolitis; preterm infant