ABSTRACT
Purpose@#To assess the association between birth weight and the development of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in the first year of life. @*Methods@#This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort multicenter study including neonates, consecutively enrolled at birth, and followed up for one year. At birth all infants were classified by birth weight as extremely low (ELBW), very low, or low when 90th percentile) for gestational age. FGIDs were classified according to the Rome III criteria and assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of life. @*Results@#Among 1,152 newborns enrolled, 934 (81.1%) completed the study: 302 (32.3%) were preterm, 35 (3.7%) were ELBW, 104 (11.1%) were SGA, 782 (83.7%) were AGA, and 48 (5.1%) were LGA infants. Overall, throughout the first year of life, 718 (76.9%) reported at least one FGID. The proportion of infants presenting with at least one FGID was significantly higher in ELBW (97%) compared to LBW (74%) (p=0.01) and in LGA (85.4%) and SGA (85.6%) compared to AGA (75.2%) (p=0.0001). On multivariate analysis, SGA was significantly associated with infantile colic. @*Conclusion@#We observed an increased risk of FGIDs in ELBW, SGA, and LGA neonates. Our results suggest that prenatal factors determining birth weight may influence the development of FGIDs in infants. Understanding the role of all potential risk factors may provide new insights and targeted approaches for FGIDs.
ABSTRACT
The gut microbiome appears to be a significant contributor to musculoskeletal health and disease. Recently, it has been found that oral microbiota are involved in arthritis pathogenesis. Microbiome composition and its functional implications have been associated with the prevention of bone loss and/or reducing fracture risk. The link between gut-oral microbiota and joint inflammation in animal models of arthritis has been established, and it is now receiving increasing attention in human studies. Recent papers have demonstrated substantial alterations in the gut and oral microbiota in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). These alterations resemble those established in systemic inflammatory conditions (inflammatory bowel disease, spondyloarthritides, and psoriasis), which include decreased microbial diversity and a disturbance of immunoregulatory properties. An association between abundance of oral Porphyromonas gingivalis and intestinal Prevotella copri in RA patients compared to healthy controls has been clearly demonstrated. These new findings open important future horizons both for understanding disease pathophysiology and for developing novel biomarkers and treatment strategies. The changes and decreased diversity of oral and gut microbiota seem to play an important role in the etiopathogenesis of RA and OA. However, specific microbial clusters and biomarkers belonging to oral and gut microbiota need to be further investigated to highlight the mechanisms related to alterations in bones and joints inflammatory pathway.
