The Alberta BLOOM Long Term Follow Up Study: The Microbiome of Preterm Children in Immune Development

One important factor in gut health is the large community of microbes (tiny living things such as bacteria) that live on the human body called the microbiome. Recent studies have shown that premature babies are more likely to have changes in their gut microbiome that are associated with health issues. However, the specific microbiome features that are involved in the development of premature babies is still unknown. Therefore, this study examines the impact of very premature birth on the baby's microbiome, and how microbiome alterations are involved in health issues such as immune dysregulation, allergies and asthma.

The large communities of microbes in the gut play a major role on the microbiome that will form during infancy and childhood. Factors such as diet, exposure to antibiotics, surgical procedures, and mode of delivery, can strongly affect the dynamics microbiome development. It is well known that microbiome alterations are associated with disorders such as asthma. However, the features involved in disease development and progression are highly understudied. Through this clinical study, we will evaluate associations between the early patterns of microbial colonization in premature infants and their risk to develop asthma later in childhood.

The hypothesis of the study is that microbial alterations resulting from preterm birth causally contribute to the allergy and asthma risk in infants (defined by atopic-wheeze) through immune mechanisms.