Radiomicrobiomics: Advancing Along the Gut-brain Axis Through Big Data Analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Microbiology
• Immunology

Background:

• The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication pathway between the brain and gut microbiota, crucial for brain development and function.
• Microbiota alterations are linked to neurological and psychiatric disorders, with the immune system playing a key role in this interaction.
• Advances in brain imaging and microbiome sequencing provide vast data, but integrating these datasets is essential for biological and clinical insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss recent efforts in combining gut microbiota data with brain imaging features.
• To introduce and explore the potential of 'radiomicrobiomics' for analyzing the gut-brain connection.
• To highlight the need for establishing causality and translating preclinical findings to human applications.

Main Methods:

• Combining data from gut microbiome sequencing and brain imaging.
• Converting brain images into mineable data features.
• Analyzing integrated data for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.

Main Results:

• The integration of gut microbiota and brain imaging data offers a novel approach to study the gut-brain axis.
• Radiomicrobiomics holds potential for extracting biological meaning and clinical benefits from complex datasets.
• Further research is needed to establish causal relationships and translate findings to human health.

Conclusions:

• Radiomicrobiomics represents a promising interdisciplinary approach to investigate the gut-brain axis.
• This method has the potential to enhance understanding of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
• Establishing causality and human translation are critical next steps for this field.