By: Inas Essa

On a global scale, numbers of premature birth have been significantly rising and that is considered one of the leading causes of morbidity. Many advances have been achieved to increase the survival of extremely premature infants; however, the number of those who survive with severe morbidity and life-long neurodevelopmental impairment remains high, which means that those infants are at high risk for brain damage.

Since the early development of the gut, brain and immune system are closely interrelated and is referred to as the gut-immune-brain axis, researchers at the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna have now found possible targets for early treatment and novel intervention strategies for such damage outside the brain; it is the bacteria in the premature infants’ gut.

Gut, Brain, and Immune System into the Same Game

The cycle of the close interaction between the gut, brain, and immune system was the starting point in this research and led the research team to how the overgrowth of bacterium Klebsiella—a certain bacterium in the gastrointestinal tract—is associated with an increased presence of certain immune cells and the development of neurological damage in premature infants.

"We investigated the role this axis plays in the brain development of extremely preterm infants," says the first author of the study, David Seki. "The microorganisms of the gut microbiome—which is a vital collection of hundreds of species of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes—are in equilibrium in healthy people. However, especially in premature babies whose immune systems and microbiome have not been able to develop fully, shifts are quite likely to occur. These shifts may result in negative effects on the brain," he explains.

A Clue to Brain Damage

In the recent study that monitored 60 premature infants and is published in Cell Host & Microbe journal, researchers could track down and explore how the pattern of the gut microbiome, immune system, and the brain develops and how they interact in this process.

"In fact, we have been able to identify certain patterns in the microbiome and immune response that are clearly linked to the progression and severity of brain injury," adds David Berry, microbiologist and head of the research group at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the University of Vienna, as well as Operational Director of the Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna.

"Crucially, such patterns often show up prior to changes in the brain. This suggests a critical time window during which brain damage of extremely premature infants may be prevented from worsening or even avoided."

A Starting Point

This interdisciplinary work has not ended yet; through the study, starting points for the development of appropriate therapies were provided by the biomarkers that the research team was able to identify. Additionally, this study is considered the starting point for a research project that will investigate in-depth the microbiome and its significance for the neurological development of prematurely born infants and how this very early development of the gut-immune-brain axis plays out in the long term.

References

Medienportal.univie.ac.at/gut-bacteria-influence-brain-development

Sciencedirect.com