Fecal volatile organic compound analysis and intestinal microbiota profiling in healthy and diseased infants

This thesis focusses on novel insights concerning the underlying pathophysiology in a wide variety of clinical conditions in the extremely preterm born population. Secondly, this thesis also comprises studies investigating novel diagnostic biomarkers to detect these conditions in a preclinical phase. Extremely preterm born infants harbor an increased risk of developing several inflammatory and infectious diseases, in which the intestinal microbiota is considered to fulfill an essential etiological role. During delivery, colonization of the neonatal gut is realized by microbes deriving from both the mother and the direct environment. However, this initial microbial composition is extremely precarious and highly subjective to change. Environmental factors considered to influence this composition include mode of delivery (vaginal birth versus cesarean section), feeding practices and medication use1. Part 1 of this thesis focusses on the intestinal microbiota of the neonate. In part 2 of this thesis we investigated the potential of fecal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as diagnostic biomarker in several neonatal diseases.