The following is a summary of “Modifications of lung microbiota structure in traumatic brain injury ventilated patients according to time and enteral feeding formulas: a prospective randomized study.,” published in the June 2023 issue of Critical Care by Cotoia et al.
Enriched diets may benefit acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, but the interaction between nutrients, immune response, and microbiota is unclear. The role of specialized diets in modulating lung microbiota and preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in TBI patients needs more research
For a study, researchers aimed to assess how specific nutrients affect the lung microbiota and the changes in lung microbiota among TBI patients who develop VAP.
Study included 31 TBI patients (pts) receiving mechanical ventilation in the ICU who were randomly assigned to either specialized (16pts) or standard nutrition (15pts). They examined alpha and beta diversity of lung microbiota by analyzing bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples collected upon admission and 7 days after ICU admission in both study groups. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the same samples, categorized as VAP or no VAP pts. None of the pts developed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in the first week. However, 10 pts developed VAP later on. The BAL microbiota of the VAP group showed significant differences in beta diversity, with high levels of Staphylococcus and Acinetobacter genera. Specialized nutrition significantly impacted beta diversity, as measured by the Bray-Curtis distance.
Their findings indicated TBI patients with VAP had different lung microbiota at admission and 7 days post-ICU admission. No correlation was found between enteral formulas and microbiota composition. Targeting lung microbiota could be a promising strategy for preventing infections in critically ill patients.
Source: ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-023-04531-5