REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1587463
This article is part of the Research TopicMolecular mechanisms and clinical studies of multi-organ dysfunction in sepsis associated with pathogenic microbial infectionView all 11 articles
The progress of the microbe-gut-brain axis in sepsis-associated encephalopathy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China
- 2Chifeng Municipal Hospital, Chifeng, China
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Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is a diffuse brain dysfunction that is caused by sepsis without direct brain injury or central nervous system infection and is manifested as anxiety-like behavior and cognitive dysfunction. The microbiota-gut-brain axis, on the other hand, is a bidirectional communication network between the gut and the brain that modulates host behavior and cognitive function in many ways and is of central importance in the preservation of general health and homeostasis. Given the functional roles attributed to the microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA), contemporary research is progressively focused on elucidating relationships between SAE and alterations in compositional and quantitative intestinal microbiota profiles. This review consolidates interdisciplinary insights from immunology, microbiology, neuroendocrine signaling, and neural pathophysiology to evaluate the mechanistic contribution of the MGBA to the relief of cognitive impairments in SAE. By unifying these perspectives, with the aim of preventing or enhancing SAE-related neurological dysfunction for the formulation of MGBA-targeted therapeutic strategies.
Keywords: sepsis-associated encephalopathy, microbe-gut-brain axis, Gut Microbiota, neuroimmune, neuroendocrine
Received: 04 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Shi, Yu, Ma, Jiao, Li and Yang. 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) or licensor 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.
* Correspondence: Fei Yang, Chifeng Municipal Hospital, Chifeng, China
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