The innervated gut and critical illness

Area of Science:

• Neuroimmunology
• Critical Care Medicine
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Critical illness involves complex organ dysfunction, particularly affecting the gastrointestinal system.
• Neuroimmune interactions are crucial for regulating inflammation and maintaining homeostasis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight brain-gut neuroimmune interactions in critical illness.
• To discuss neural regulation of inflammation, gut innervation, and the brain-gut axis.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent studies on brain-gut axis and enteric nervous system.
• Analysis of experimental evidence on neural control of immune responses.
• Exploration of neuro-immune pathways in preclinical models.

Main Results:

• The brain-gut axis and enteric nervous system regulate local and systemic inflammation.
• Neural reflexes control immune responses and promote gastrointestinal homeostasis.
• Therapeutic interventions targeting neuro-immune pathways show preclinical promise.

Conclusions:

• Critical illness involves intricate neuroimmune interactions affecting the gastrointestinal system.
• Clinical validation of neural reflexes in critical care is lacking.
• Future research should focus on harnessing neuro-immune crosstalk for therapeutic benefits in critically ill patients.