Clinical and Gut Microbiome Characteristics of Medically Complex Patients Receiving Blenderized Tube Feeds vs. Standard Enteral Feeds.

Background: Diet is known to influence the composition of the gut microbiome. For patients who require enteral feeding, there has been a growing popularity of using blenderized tube feeds (BTFs) as an alternative to standard enteral formula (SEF). There is limited literature exploring the impact of BTFs on the gut microbiome. Methods: Twenty-eight patients 1 to 22 years of age who received their nutrition via gastrostomy tube for over 4 weeks were included and participants were divided into BTF and SEF groups. Demographics and clinical information were collected from the medical records, and all legal guardians completed a semi-structured interview using a questionnaire. 16SrRNA sequencing was used for bacteriome analysis. Results: Eleven patients in the BTF group and seventeen in the SEF group were included. No significant differences in the demographics were noted. Patients on BTFs had no emesis compared to seven (41%) in the SEF group, p = 0.02. There were no significant differences in other clinical characteristics and comorbidities. No significant differences in the gut microbiome between the groups were noted for alpha and beta diversities, richness, and evenness (at both genus and species levels). Differential abundance analysis showed only a few significant differences between the groups at all reported taxonomic levels. Conclusions: Patients on BTFs had a significantly decreased prevalence of emesis compared to the SEF group. No significant differences in the microbiome between the groups were noted for alpha and beta diversities, richness, and evenness. Prospective studies are recommended to verify our preliminary data and further evaluate the implications of our study results.