Scientists have identified new biomarkers for brain development by studying the microbiome of extreme preterm infants.

The gut microbiome is composed of thousands of species of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microbes. In healthy people, the community remains relatively stable.

But a growing body of research suggests disruptions to the microbiome can influence human health, inhibiting the immune system, hormonal pathways, cognitive functions and more.

Some scientists have even called the digestive system and its microbial inhabitants the body's "second brain."

To better understand the interplay between the body's gut, immune system and brain, researchers analyzed the microbial communities of several extreme preterm infants.

Specifically, scientists looked at how changes in the gut microbiome of preterm infants influences brain development via the vagus nerve.

Their analysis -- published Friday in the journal Cell Host & Microbe -- revealed a link between brain injuries in preterm infants and unique patterns in their microbiomes and immune systems.

In fact, the patterns predicted the progression and severity of each brain injury.

"Crucially, such patterns often show up prior to changes in the brain," study co-author David Berry said in a press release.

"This suggests a critical time window during which brain damage of extremely premature infants may be prevented from worsening or even avoided," said Berry, a microbiologist at the University of Vienna in Austria.

Berry and his research partners were able to identify biomarkers for early brain development. Doctors can use these biomarkers to determine when to deliver specific therapies.

Scientists identified the biomarkers after sequencing the DNA from gut microbiome samples collected from 60 premature infants, all of them born before 28 weeks gestation and weighing less than 2.2 pounds.

Researchers also studied EEG recordings and MRI images of the infants' brains.

Though researchers have already highlighted a number of novel links between the gut microbiome, the study's authors plan to continue analyzing links between the gut microbiome and brain development as the preterm infants grow.

The latest paper, they said, is only a starting point.

"How the children's motor and cognitive skills develop only becomes apparent over several years," co-author Angelika Berger said in a press release.

"We aim to understand how this very early development of the gut-immune-brain axis plays out in the long term," said Berger, a pediatric researcher at the Medical University of Vienna.

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