Metabolomics reveals changes in levels of fecal branched chain amino acids and organic acids in very preterm infants fed human milk fortified with bovine colostrum.

Background & Aims: Human milk is the optimal diet for very preterm infants (VPIs), but it requires nutrient fortification to support growth. Bovine colostrum (BC), rich in intact proteins and bioactive components, could serve as a novel fortifier with potential benefits to VPIs gut health. To evaluate a possible effect of feeding BC on intestinal metabolism, the gut microbiota, and their interaction, we studied the fecal metabolome of VPIs in the first month of life, as compared with a conventional fortifier (CF, based on infant formula ingredients).

Feeding cessation and antibiotics improve clinical symptoms and alleviate gut and systemic inflammation in preterm pigs sensitive to necrotizing enterocolitis.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a microbiota- and feeding-related gut inflammatory disease in preterm infants. The standard of care (SOC) treatment for suspected NEC is antibiotic treatment and reduced enteral feeding, but how SOC treatment mitigates NEC remains unclear. We explored whether SOC treatment alone or combined with an anti-inflammatory protein (inter-alpha inhibitor protein, IAIP) supplementation improves outcomes in a preterm piglet model of formula-induced NEC.

Enteral plasma feeding improves gut function and immunity in piglets after birth asphyxia.

Introduction: Birth asphyxia may negatively affect gut function and immunity in newborns. Conversely, immunomodulatory milk diets may protect the gut and immune system against damage caused by asphyxia. Using caesarean-derived pigs as models, we hypothesised that enteral feeding with plasma improves gut and immune functions in asphyxiated newborns.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 infusion in preterm piglets does not affect growth parameters of skeletal muscle or tendon tissue.

Prematurity has physical consequences, such as lower birth weight, decreased muscle mass and increased risk of adult-onset metabolic disease. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) has therapeutic potential to improve the growth and quality of muscle and tendon in premature births, and thus attenuate some of these sequalae. We investigated the effect of IGF-1 on extensor carpi radialis muscle and biceps brachii tendon of preterm piglets.