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Role of the Gut Microbiota-Brain Axis in Brain Damage in Preterm Infants
1Department of Pathology, Huangshi Central Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Hubei Polytechnic University, 435000 Huangshi, P. R. China.
Insights
The gut microbiome influences brain development and diseases like white matter injury (WMI) in preterm infants. Understanding the gut-brain axis offers potential microbial treatments for WMI.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Microbiology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- The intestinal microbiome is the largest microbial repository in the body.
- It plays a critical role in neurological development, aging, and brain disorders, including white matter injury (WMI) in preterm infants.
- The gut-brain axis facilitates communication between the gut and the nervous system, influencing inflammatory cytokines and oligodendrocyte differentiation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the effects of WMI on intestinal dysbiosis and gut dysfunction.
- To summarize recent findings on the gut-brain axis in humans and animals concerning brain injury.
- To highlight the relationship between the microbiota and the brain after acute brain injury.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies on the gut-brain axis and WMI.
- Analysis of research on microbial metabolites and their impact on brain health.
- Examination of animal and human data regarding gut microbiota and neurological outcomes.
Main Results:
- Gut microbes and their metabolites influence inflammatory cytokines, affecting premyelinating oligodendrocyte differentiation and WMI incidence.
- WMI can lead to intestinal dysbiosis and gut dysfunction, indicating a bidirectional relationship.
- The gut microflora impacts host metabolism, immunity, and brain health, with implications for disease progression.
Conclusions:
- The gut microflora-brain axis is a key factor in WMI, particularly in preterm infants.
- Understanding the communication mechanisms via this axis may reveal new therapeutic targets.
- Microbial-based interventions hold promise for treating preterm WMI.
Abstract:
The greatest repository of microbes in the human body, the intestinal microbiome, is involved in neurological development, aging, and brain illnesses such as white matter injury (WMI) in preterm newborns. Intestinal microorganisms constitute a microbial gut-brain axis that serves as a crucial conduit for communication between the gut and the nervous system. This axis controls inflammatory cytokines, which in turn influence the differentiation of premyelinating oligodendrocytes (pre-OLs) and influence the incidence of WMI in premature newborns through the metabolites generated by gut microbes. Here, we describe the effects of white matter injury (WMI) on intestinal dysbiosis and gut dysfunction and explain the most recent research findings on the gut-brain axis in both humans and animals. We also emphasize the delicate relationship that exists between the microbiota and the brain following acute brain injury. The role that the intestinal microflora plays in influencing host metabolism, the immune system, brain health, and the course of disease is becoming increasingly clear, but there are still gaps in the field of WMI treatment. Thus, this review demonstrates the function of the gut microflora-brain axis in WMI and elucidates the possible mechanisms underlying the communication between gut bacteria and the developing brain via the gut-brain axis, potentially opening up new avenues for microbial-based intervention and treatment for preterm WMI.
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