While it has previously been shown that early life gut microbiome imbalance is associated with the later development of atopic dermatitis (AD) in full term infants, to our knowledge no similar studies have been conducted in infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This is an important research gap to address because a) infants in the NICU are at an increased risk for gut microbiome dysbiosis due to several clinical and environmental factors including frequent antimicrobial exposure; and b) their risk of developing AD may be different from full term infants. We demonstrate gut microbiome dysbiosis and clinical factors impacting the microbiome associated with later development of AD that are unique to infants in the NICU. These may represent early predictors of AD development and potential therapeutic targets to mitigate future disease.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contributions of the NIH authors were made as part of their official duties as NIH federal employees, are in compliance with agency policy requirements, and are considered Works of the United States Government. However, the findings and conclusions presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NIH or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This work was also supported in part by the the National Eczema Association (Robbins). This project has been funded in part with Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH, Department of Health and Human Services under BCBB Support Services Contract HHSN316201300006W/75N93022F00001 to Guidehouse Digital.

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