Abstract:Objective Toexplorethedynamicimpactofbreastfeedingonthegutmicrobiotacompositionanddiversity ofveryprematureinfants.Methods Atotalof49veryprematureinfantswhowerebreastfedandhospitalizedintheNeonatal DepartmentoftheAffiliatedTraditionalChineseMedicineHospitalofSouthwestMedicalUniversityfromJuly2021toJune 2023wereselectedastheresearchsubjects.Fecalsampleswerecollectedfromtheseinfantsonpostnataldays3,7,14,28, and1daybeforedischarge.Thedynamicevolutionofgutmicrobiotawasmonitoredusing16SrDNAampliconsequencing technology.Results There werestatisticallysignificantdifferencesinthe Alphadiversityofthegut microbiotaofvery prematureinfantsatdifferenttimepoints(P<0.05).Amongthetop10 mostabundantkeyspecies,onlyActinobacteria showedno statistically significant differencein relative abundance (P > 0.05), while the remaining key species (Gammaproteobacteria,Bacilli,Clostridia,etc.)exhibitedsignificantdifferences (P <0.05).Atthephylum level, FirmicutesandProteobacteriadominated,withtherelativeabundanceofFirmicutespeakedonpostnatalday7(47.80%)and subsequentlydeclined.Attheorderlevel,Bifidobacteriales,andatthefamilylevel,Bifidobacteriaceae,showedhigher relativeabundancesonpostnataldays14and28(3.36% and1.32%,respectively).Conclusion Breastfeedingpromotesthe colonizationofbeneficialbacteriainthegut microbiotaofverypreterminfantsandreducestheabundanceofpotential pathogenicbacteria