Epiflore. Intestinal ecosystem of large and very large premature infants microbiota analysis short- and long-term clinical implications
“The aim of the EPIFLORE project is to carry out a large-scale analysis of the establishment of the microbiota in very premature babies. This project takes advantage of 2 French cohorts that began in 2011: (1) EPIPAGE 2, which included all preterm infants born in France, and (2) ELFE, which included all full-term and high-gestational-age preterm infants. All children included will be followed for up to 12 years. The EPIFLORE project has 3 objectives: (1) to study the specific gut microbiota of extremely premature newborns on a large scale, with a multicenter approach taking into account inter-individual and center-related variability; (2) to link extreme prematurity to the development of short- and longer-term pathologies; and (3) to investigate relationships between microbiota profile and the development of sepsis or ECUN. Six hundred and sixty children from 19 level III intensive care centers belonging to the EPIPAGE 2 cohort were included.” Comparing the children in these 2 cohorts will help determine the risk of a very premature baby developing pathologies in the short and long term.
Partners: MJ Butel (Univ Paris V, Coord.), PY Ancel (INSERM U953)