Gut Microbiome Study at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt

Led by Drs. Stephanie Patterson (Pediatric Critical Care Medicine) , Buddy Creech (Pediatric Infectious Diseases), and Fred Lamb (Pediatric Critical Care Medicine)

Study specifics: Feeding difficulties after cardiac surgery occur in 20% of infants with congenital heart disease (CHD). Optimizing nutrition for these infants is important for healing, development, and growth. A healthy gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome promotes growth and good nutrition; however, little is known about the GI microbiome in children with CHD and the contribution to feeding difficulties. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one serious complication that occurs in approximately 5% of infants, contributing to poor feeding outcomes and in-hospital mortality (50-73%). Data suggest that preterm infants with NEC have decreased microbial diversity and increased prevalence of pathogenic bacteria that may contribute to this pathology. There are currently no data regarding the relationship between CHD and alterations in the GI microbiome that may contribute to NEC. Analysis of our current study has shown that in infants with CHD, chronic disease is associated with a delay in microbial diversification, when compared to the typical richness that develops in the first 2 months of life. Therefore, this biorepository will allow both a larger sample size to confirm these results and provide an infrastructure to study ways to repopulate the gastrointestinal microbiome in patients. Infants with CHD are also at higher risk for infections after surgery with a 13-30% risk of infection postoperatively. The GI microbiome is important for healthy immune function, which is essential in preventing infections in infants with CHD. No study has evaluated the influence of the GI microbiome and risk for infections in infants with CHD postoperatively.

Summary: Funding for this project will allow for greater sampling to be create one of the largest microbiome databases in the country for study. The purpose is to determine the effect of gut health in post-operative CHD babies on their long-term prognosis and to promote scientific innovation in outcomes research for patients with congenital heart disease.