Study of Normal Intestinal Development and Disease in Premature and Term Neonates

Primary outcomes

1. Number of intestinal stem cells and mature epithelial cells

   Time frame: At the time of surgery for another clinical problem.

   Small intestinal biopsy specimens will be collected either from discarded surgical biopsies collected for clinical reasons or from 1-2 additional small bunch biopsies (5mm) near the surgery site. The tissue will be used to 1.) generate organoids for longitudinal cell culture, 2.) analyze RNA or protein components by transcriptomic or cellular analyses or 3.) analyze histology. We do not have discrete planned outcomes because this is an investigational study and we are looking for new trends or differences.

2. Degree of Immune System Changes

   Time frame: Within 48 hours before or after the clinically-driven surgery.

   We will collect a small 1 tsp amount of blood (5mL) and use this to analyze immune cell types or cytokines in the blood. These will include monocytes, T cell, B cells, and neutrophils for the cell types. Cytokines will include IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, Il-5, IL-6, Il-8, IL10, IL-13, IL-22, IL-33, TNFa, IFNg, IFNa, MCP1, MIP1a.

3. Fraction of Stool Microbiome that has beneficial microbes

   Time frame: Within 48 hours before or after the surgery from which the biopsy is obtained.

   We will collect stool samples to analyze the microbiome using bulk microbial RNA sequencing.