Early-life gut microbiota and neurodevelopment in preterm infants: any role for Bifidobacterium?

Despite the well-recognized importance of proper gut microbiota assembly for the child's future health, the connections between the early-life gut microbiota and neurocognitive development in humans have not been thoroughly explored so far. In this pilot observational study, we aimed to unveil the relation between dynamic succession of the gut microbiota in very low birth weight infants during the first month of life and their neurodevelopment, assessed at 24-month corrected age. According to our data, the early-life gut microbiota of preterm infants with normal vs impaired neurodevelopment followed distinct temporal trajectories with peculiar compositional rearrangements. In this context, early Bifidobacterium deficiency seem to constitute a negative biomarker of adverse neurological outcomes.Conclusion: our data might pave the way for future in-depth studies focusing on potential impact of bifidobacteria or specific microbiota patterns on neonatal neurodevelopment and lay the foundation for microbiome-based clinical practices to modulate altered profiles and improve long-term health.