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Prematurity, health care outcomes and microbiomes

Guest Editors:
Rita C Silveira: Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre/Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Joseph Ting: Univeristy of Alberta, Canada


BMC Pediatrics welcomed for submissions to our Collection on Prematurity, health care outcomes and microbiomes.

Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks' gestation, occurs in 10% of live births worldwide. Of those, 40% are thought to result from infection.  In order to prevent preterm births, it is important to understand the role of the microbiome in regards to prematurity.  In this context, the role of maternal and neonatal microbiome has been the objective of much research.  There has been an increase in emerging evidence regarding the influence of microbiome and microbiota on health from early stages of life, yet there are still gaps in the understanding.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Rita C Silveira: Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre/Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Rita C Silveira is a Professor at the Faculty of Medicine Federal University Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and a Neonatologist at Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. She operates in the area of ​​teaching, research, and assistance, with a focus on the outcomes of high-risk births for vulnerabilities. She has experience in care, teaching and research in the area of ​​Medicine, with an emphasis on Maternal and Child Health, working mainly on the following topics: newborn, prematurity, newborn, prematurity, follow-up, early stimulation and inflammatory mediators.

Joseph Ting: University of Alberta, Canada

Dr Ting is an academic neonatologist and Associate Professor from University of Alberta in Canada. He has had a prolific research output throughout his clinical and research posts, contributing to >110 peer-reviewed publications and three book chapters. His main areas of research interest are in (1) neonatal infection & antimicrobial stewardship (2) neonatal haemodynamics & Targeted Neonatal Echocardiography and (3) childhood outcomes of at-risk infants.


 


About the collection

BMC Pediatrics welcomed for submissions to our Collection on Prematurity, health care outcomes and microbiomes.

Preterm birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks' gestation, occurs in 10% of live births worldwide. Of those, 40% are thought to result from infection.  In order to prevent preterm births, it is important to understand the role of the microbiome in regards to prematurity.  In this context, the role of maternal and neonatal microbiome has been the objective of much research.  There has been an increase in emerging evidence regarding the influence of microbiome and microbiota on health from early stages of life, yet there are still gaps in the understanding.  

Within this collection at BMC Pediatrics, we are interested in attracting a wide range of submissions which focus on prematurity and the microbiome.  We are interested in evidence pertaining to both maternal and neonatal microbiota as well as exploring the neurological outcomes associated with neonatal microbiota.

Role of the maternal microbiome in the context of prematurity - There has been much research about the maternal microbiome and pregnancy outcomes; this collection welcomed submissions relating to preterm birth outcomes.

Understanding the neurological outcomes associated with neonatal microbiota, including the brain-gut axis - the collection welcomed research relating to the bidirectional communication axis between the microbiota, the gut and the brain, especially in regards to neurodevelopment and health outcomes.

Opportunities for microbiome modulation in prematurity outcomes - as the microbiome changes significantly following birth, it has been frequently proposed that this is a vital time in which to modulate the early microbiota via probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics in order to promote health.  The collection welcomed submissions relating to microbiome modulation in association with prematurity outcomes.

Given that this is an important and rapidly growing field of research, BMC Pediatrics welcomed submissions that include primary research, review papers, and other studies contributing to the knowledge base of microbiome associated with prematurity, presenting evidence from cutting edge studies advancing our understanding of the maternal biome, neonatal microbiota and microbiome modulation.  


Image credit: ondrooo/stock.adobe.com

  1. This study evaluates changes in the neonatal morbidity, the neonatal care practices, and the length of hospital stay of surviving very preterm (VP) infants born in the Netherlands in the 1980s and in the 2000s...

    Authors: Réka E. Sexty, Sylvia van der Pal, Sijmen A. Reijneveld, Dieter Wolke, Guido Lüchters, Leonhard Bakker, Stef van Buuren, Arend F. Bos and Peter Bartmann
    Citation: BMC Pediatrics 2023 23:554
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. The association between fetal growth restriction (FGR) and childhood neurodevelopmental delay is unclear and the evidence available to the present date shows conflicting results. Our aim was to analyse the imp...

    Authors: Mariana Cortez Ferreira, Joana Mafra, Ana Dias, Isabel Santos Silva and Adelaide Taborda
    Citation: BMC Pediatrics 2023 23:533
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Sepsis is a life-threatening multiple-organ injury caused by disordered host immune response to microbial infection. However, the correlation between gut microbiota dysbiosis and immune indicators remains unex...

    Authors: Xia Lin, Mohnad Abdalla, Junjie Yang, Lei Liu, Yali Fu, Yanli Zhang, Shuchun Yang, Han Yu, Yongsheng Ge, Sufang Zhang, Guiyun Kang, Wei Dang, Qin Jiang, Ying Wang and Zhongtao Gai
    Citation: BMC Pediatrics 2023 23:516
    Content type: Research Published on: