Table 3.
Changes in fecal organic acid levels, pH, total bile acids, and plasma fatty acids in preterm infants during the first 8 weeks after birth
| Meconium |
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 4 |
Week 8 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic acids | BBG-01 (16)* counta, % | placebo (15) count, % | BBG-01 (14) count, % | placebo (14) count, % | BBG-01 (17) count, % | placebo (17) count, % | BBG-01 (17) count, % | placebo (18) count, % | BBG-01 (15) count, % | placebo (17) count, % |
| Total organic | ||||||||||
| acids in feces, µmol/g feces | 16.2±13.5 (100) | 19.0±21.5 (93) | 30.3±21.2b (100) | 9.4±8.5 (100) | 32.9±24.4 (100) | 19.6±24.8 (100) | 36.7±20.0b (100) | 23.3±14.5 (100) | 52.3±29.8b (100) | 35.9±27.4 (100) |
| Succinic acid | 3.3 (13) | 8.9±15.3 (20) | 1.8±3.1 (43) | 1.4 (14) | 1.5±1.7 (76) | 2.2±2.1 (41) | 5.0±3.6 (76) | 3.6±2.8 (72) | 4.4±3.5 (80) | 5.1±3.3 (94) |
| Lactic acid | 2.8±1.8 (56) | 1.3±0.6 (40) | 8.0±4.2b (71) | 2.1±0.4 (29) | 10.6±8.7 (76) | 8.0±11.8 (65) | 6.3±4.5 (88) | 6.4±5.6 (72) | 10.8±17.6 (100) | 7.4±8.1 (82) |
| Formic acid | 2.2 (13) | 0.6±0.5 (40) | 3.2±3.0 (57) | 0.5±0.2 (36) | 2.6±1.5 (53) | 1.9±1.5 (47) | 1.5±1.8 (29) | 0.8±0.6 (28) | 1.5±1.6 (53) | 1.6±1.5 (35) |
| Acetic acid | 14.6±13.5 (88) | 16.2±18.6 (93) | 21.9±15.7b (100) | 8.1±8.7 (100) | 22.0±16.6 (100) | 12.6±14.2 (100) | 25.6±15.2b (94) | 14.5±10.3 (100) | 35.1±18.1bb (100) | 22.2±18.6 (100) |
| Propionic acid | 18.3 (6) | ND (0) | ND (0) | 1.2 (7) | 1.5±0.2 (18) | 0.9 (6) | 4.2±4.7 (59) | 2.7±2.3 (50) | 2.9±2.2 (73) | 3.2±2.1 (71) |
| Butyric acid | ND (0) | ND (0) | ND (0) | 0.1 (7) | ND (0) | ND (0) | 4.8 (6) | ND (0) | ND (0) | ND (0) |
| Meconium |
Week 4 |
Week 8 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bile acids | BBG-01 (9) | placebo (10) | BBG-01 (16) | Placebo (10) | BBG-01 (12) | Placebo (10) | |||||
| Total bile acids in feces, µmol/g | 8.64±2.6 | 8.99±5.1 | 0.27±0.2b | 2.78±1.3 | 0.26±0.36b | 2.19±0.9 | |||||
| Umbilical cord |
Week 4 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fatty acids in plasma | BBG-01 (16) | placebo (18) | BBG-01 (13) | placebo (17) | ||||||
| DGLA, µg/mL | 36.7±18 | 31.7±13 | 51.8±9b | 46.4±21 | ||||||
| AA, µg/mL | 156.2±41 | 164.9±61 | 172.2±46 | 179.4±83 | ||||||
| EPA, µg/mL | 7.5±4 | 5.8±2 | 18.1±10 | 15.8±7 | ||||||
| DHA, µg/mL | 57.5±26 | 48.9±17 | 72.0±26 | 66.7±22 | ||||||
Preterm infants with a body weight <1,500 g. ND, not detected.
*
For all columns: number of samples examined (%: bacterial detection rate).
b
p < 0.05,
bb
p < 0.01 (vs. placebo), non-parametric two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test, two-tailed unpaired Student's t test.