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First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development

The microbiota plays important roles in host metabolism and immunity, and its disruption affects adult brain physiology and behavior. Although such findings have been attributed to altered neurodevelopment, few studies have actually examined microbiota effects on the developing brain. This review fo...

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Autores principales: Gars, Aviva, Ronczkowski, Nicole M., Chassaing, Benoit, Castillo-Ruiz, Alexandra, Forger, Nancy G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8217657/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34168540
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2021.682505
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author Gars, Aviva
Ronczkowski, Nicole M.
Chassaing, Benoit
Castillo-Ruiz, Alexandra
Forger, Nancy G.
author_facet Gars, Aviva
Ronczkowski, Nicole M.
Chassaing, Benoit
Castillo-Ruiz, Alexandra
Forger, Nancy G.
author_sort Gars, Aviva
collection PubMed
description The microbiota plays important roles in host metabolism and immunity, and its disruption affects adult brain physiology and behavior. Although such findings have been attributed to altered neurodevelopment, few studies have actually examined microbiota effects on the developing brain. This review focuses on developmental effects of the earliest exposure to microbes. At birth, the mammalian fetus enters a world teeming with microbes which colonize all body sites in contact with the environment. Bacteria reach the gut within a few hours of birth and cause a measurable response in the intestinal epithelium. In adults, the gut microbiota signals to the brain via the vagus nerve, bacterial metabolites, hormones, and immune signaling, and work in perinatal rodents is beginning to elucidate which of these signaling pathways herald the very first encounter with gut microbes in the neonate. Neural effects of the microbiota during the first few days of life include changes in neuronal cell death, microglia, and brain cytokine levels. In addition to these effects of direct exposure of the newborn to microbes, accumulating evidence points to a role for the maternal microbiota in affecting brain development via bacterial molecules and metabolites while the offspring is still in utero. Hence, perturbations to microbial exposure perinatally, such as through C-section delivery or antibiotic treatment, alter microbiota colonization and may have long-term neural consequences. The perinatal period is critical for brain development and a close look at microbiota effects during this time promises to reveal the earliest, most primary effects of the microbiota on neurodevelopment.
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spelling pubmed-82176572021-06-23 First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development Gars, Aviva Ronczkowski, Nicole M. Chassaing, Benoit Castillo-Ruiz, Alexandra Forger, Nancy G. Front Cell Neurosci Neuroscience The microbiota plays important roles in host metabolism and immunity, and its disruption affects adult brain physiology and behavior. Although such findings have been attributed to altered neurodevelopment, few studies have actually examined microbiota effects on the developing brain. This review focuses on developmental effects of the earliest exposure to microbes. At birth, the mammalian fetus enters a world teeming with microbes which colonize all body sites in contact with the environment. Bacteria reach the gut within a few hours of birth and cause a measurable response in the intestinal epithelium. In adults, the gut microbiota signals to the brain via the vagus nerve, bacterial metabolites, hormones, and immune signaling, and work in perinatal rodents is beginning to elucidate which of these signaling pathways herald the very first encounter with gut microbes in the neonate. Neural effects of the microbiota during the first few days of life include changes in neuronal cell death, microglia, and brain cytokine levels. In addition to these effects of direct exposure of the newborn to microbes, accumulating evidence points to a role for the maternal microbiota in affecting brain development via bacterial molecules and metabolites while the offspring is still in utero. Hence, perturbations to microbial exposure perinatally, such as through C-section delivery or antibiotic treatment, alter microbiota colonization and may have long-term neural consequences. The perinatal period is critical for brain development and a close look at microbiota effects during this time promises to reveal the earliest, most primary effects of the microbiota on neurodevelopment. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-06-08 /pmc/articles/PMC8217657/ /pubmed/34168540 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2021.682505 Text en Copyright © 2021 Gars, Ronczkowski, Chassaing, Castillo-Ruiz and Forger. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Gars, Aviva
Ronczkowski, Nicole M.
Chassaing, Benoit
Castillo-Ruiz, Alexandra
Forger, Nancy G.
First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development
title First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development
title_full First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development
title_fullStr First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development
title_full_unstemmed First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development
title_short First Encounters: Effects of the Microbiota on Neonatal Brain Development
title_sort first encounters: effects of the microbiota on neonatal brain development
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8217657/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34168540
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2021.682505
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