Lung function adjusted for body length and gestational age in male (black) and female (gray) premature infants.

<p>Data are represented as the mean (+SD). Sixty-six (35 female) were exposed to HCA (combined Grade 1 and Grade 2) and 29 not exposed to HCA (17 female). There was a significant sex by HCA interaction for FEF₅₀ (F = 8.76; p = 0.004), FEF_25–75 (F = 8.11; p = 0.005) and FEV_0.5 (F = 4.81; p = 0.031). Post hoc analyses revealed a significant reduction in lung function in exposed female preterm infants when compared to females not exposed to HCA. The effect of exposure to HCA was not significant in males. *<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01 (Post hoc Holm-Sidak test).</p

Lung function values, stratified by sex and chorioamnionitis.

<p>Lung function, Weight/age, and Length/age expressed in Z scores. Data are mean±SD.</p>*<p>p<0.05; **p<0.01; for Mann-Whitney Test for continuous variables between male versus female preterm infants and between None versus HCA Grade 1 and HCA Grade 2 combined.</p>#<p>p<0.05 for Jonckheere–Terpstra trend test for continuous variables between None, HCA Grade 1 and HCA Grade 2.</p

Lung function variables, expressed as mean z-score by HCA level in premature infants.

<p>*<i>p</i><0.05 for Jonckheere–Terpstra trend test.</p

Diversity and composition of vaginal microbiota of pregnant women at risk for transmitting Group B Streptococcus treated with intrapartum penicillin

<div><p>Background</p><p>Administering intravenous antibiotics during labor to women at risk for transmitting Group B Streptococcus (GBS) can prevent infections in newborns. However, the impact of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis on mothers’ microbial community composition is largely unknown. We compared vaginal microbial composition in pregnant women experiencing preterm birth at ≤ 32 weeks gestation that received intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis with that in controls.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Microbiota in vaginal swabs collected shortly before delivery from GBS positive women that received penicillin intravenously during labor or after premature rupture of membranes was compared to controls. Microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing using the PGM Ion Torrent to determine the effects of penicillin use during hospitalization and GBS status on its composition.</p><p>Results</p><p>Penicillin administration was associated with an altered vaginal microbial community composition characterized by increased microbial diversity. <i>Lactobacillus</i> sp. contributed only 13.1% of the total community in the women that received penicillin compared to 88.1% in the controls. <i>Streptococcus</i> sp. were present in higher abundance in GBS positive woman compared to controls, with 60% of the total vaginal microbiota in severe cases identified as <i>Streptococcus sp</i>.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Vaginal communities of healthy pregnant women were dominated by <i>Lactobacillu</i>s sp. and contained low diversity, while Group B <i>Streptococcus</i> positive women receiving intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis had a modified vaginal microbiota composition with low abundance of <i>Lactobacillus</i> but higher microbial diversity.</p></div

Differentially abundant taxa found in vaginal samples of pregnant women whose abundance differed statistically between treatments.

<p>Comparisons were performed using ANOVA for multiple comparisons followed by the Tukey-Kramer <i>post hoc</i> test.</p

Relative abundance of <i>Streptococcus</i> within each patient.

<p>Horizontal lines represent the average proportion of sequences per treatment.</p

Alpha diversity measurements of vaginal microbial communities from pregnant women under different treatments.

<p>The boxes spans the first quartile to the third quartile, the horizontal line inside the boxes represents the median. Lines extending vertically from the boxes indicate variability outside the upper and lower quartiles and the single black circles indicate outliers. After detecting overall differences in beta and alpha diversity among samples, an analysis of the specific taxonomic composition of mothers’ vagina was performed in order to identify the microbes responsible for differences among treatments. Significant differences (<i>p</i>< 0.05) were observed in the abundance of <i>Lactobacillus</i> (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0169916#pone.0169916.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3</a>). <i>Lactobacillus</i> spp. was the most abundant genus found in the swab samples from the group of pregnant women without use of penicillin contributing 88.1% and 68.5% with positive and negative <i>Streptococcus</i> screening, respectively. In contrast, <i>Lactobacillus</i> contributed only 13.1% and 6.0% of the total vaginal microbial community found in the cases with use of penicillin with positive and negative screening for GBS, respectively. <i>Pseudomonas</i> was the second most abundant genus among samples contributing up to 6.0% of the total community in those women without use of penicillin. On the other hand, <i>Pseudomonas</i> contributed up to 17.5% of the total community in the cases with use of penicillin. Although the average abundance of <i>Pseudomonas</i> suggested differences between treatments, such difference was not significant (<i>p</i> = 0.134).</p