Study on Metabolic Changes of Intestinal Microflora in Infant with Community-Acquired Pneumonia after Antibiotics Treatment

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the metabolites produced by intestinal microflora after antibiotic treated infants using an in vitro colonic fermentation model with infant faecal mi-crobiota. Method: The experimental group consisted of 23 children who were hospitalized in the Department of Respiratory, Affiliated Children’s Hospital of Suzhou University from May to Sep-tember 2017, and these children all were diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia and treated with antibiotics at the same time. The control group was 16 children with normal physical examination in children’s health section. The concentration of short chain fatty acid (SCFA) in feces was detected by GC. And then the fresh fecal samples were inoculated into the in vitro fermentation systems, which contained Basal (YCFA) and oligosaccharides medium. The SCFA concentration at 24 h was detected. SPASS 19.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: 1) The contents of the total SCFA, propionic acid and butyric acid in the feces of infants in antibiotic group were significantly lower than those in control group (P < 0.05); but there is no difference in acetic acid value (P = 0.65). 2) The ratio of the percentage of acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid in normal control group was 59.1:20.9:15.6, and the ratio of the three acids in antibiotic group was 84.5:6.3:6.1. The contents of propionic acid and butyric acid in antibiotic group were significantly lower than that in normal control group (P < 0.05). 3) After fermentation for 24 h, the contents of total SCFA, propionic acid and butyric acid in each oligosaccharide medium were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no difference in acetic acid contents in the media including YCFA, MAI, and XYI; and the acetic acid content in the other mediums was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). 4) The production of gas in these mediums (including FOS, GOS, IMO, MOS, INU, STA, MAI, XYI) in antibiotic group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P 0.05) in these mediums including LAU, RAU, and XOS. Conclusion: After treatment of antibiotics in infants with community-acquired pneumonia, the metabolites produced by intestinal microflora were significantly inhibited, which was showed as the total content of SCFA, propionic acid and butyric acid, and some acetic acid-producing bacteria were also inhibited.