Microbial analysis of umbilical cord blood reveals novel pathogens associated with stillbirth and early preterm birth

摘要: Stillbirths account for half of all perinatal mortality, but the underlying cause of a significant portion of the cases remains unknown. We set out to test the potential role and extent of microbial infection in stillbirth through a case-control analysis of fetal cord blood collected from the multisite Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network. Cases (n = 60) were defined as stillbirths at >20 weeks of gestation, and controls (n = 176) were live births. The bacterial presence, abundance, and composition were analyzed by endpoint PCR of full-length 16S rRNA and the V4 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). The results demonstrate that bacterial prevalence and abundance were both significantly increased in stillbirth, even after adjusting for maternal age, race, body mass index, number of pregnancies, gestational age, and multiple gestations. Composition of bacterial communities in the cord blood also differed significantly …