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Neonates, antibiotics and the microbiome

Nature Medicine volume 20, pages 469–470 (2014)Cite this article

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As babies leave their mothers' wombs, they are colonized by commensal bacteria. A new study shows that these microbes in a newborn's gut can promote an increase in circulating neutrophils that can guard the body from infections. Altering a neonate's gut microbiota with perinatal antibiotic treatment can impair neutrophils, leaving the newborn vulnerable to attack by harmful bacteria (pages 524–530).

Globally, around 4 million newborn babies die yearly due to sepsis1. Prolonged use of antibiotics is currently under clinical practice in the interest of preventing early-onset sepsis in newborns who are more likely to develop infections (those with low birth weight, those who are premature or those with chorioamnionitis); however, it is becoming more apparent that antibiotic treatment can result in late-onset sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis and death in newborns2.

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Figure 1: The neonatal microbiota can increase the amounts of circulating neutrophils to protect the host from potential bacterial infections.

Kim Caesar/Nature Publishing Group

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Phoebe & Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases and the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Ajitha Thanabalasuriar and Paul Kubes are at the Calvin, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,

    Ajitha Thanabalasuriar & Paul Kubes

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  1. Ajitha Thanabalasuriar
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  2. Paul Kubes
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Correspondence to Paul Kubes.

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Thanabalasuriar, A., Kubes, P. Neonates, antibiotics and the microbiome. Nat Med 20, 469–470 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3558

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