About this Research Topic
The first 2000 days of life comprise the time from conception to age 5, and are a critical window for the development of the immune system-gut-brain axis in infants of which will depend the health status during childhood and adulthood.
Adverse early-life maternal and infant factors have been associated with atypical neurodevelopment in infants and children, and these include maternal disease and poor nutritional status (undernutrition, obesity, deficient macro- and micro-nutrients intake); maternal stress, pollutant exposures, and maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy; intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), low gestational age and birth weight; infant antibiotic exposure (prenatal, intrapartum, postnatal); preterm birth; poor early-life infant's nutrition, neonatal infection and inflammation (e.g. neonatal sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis), and pollutant exposures. Increasing evidence suggests that these adverse early-life maternal and infant factors disturb the development of the immune system-gut-brain axis in infants and associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy (CP), epilepsy, neurodevelopmental delays and disorders (motor, speech, language, cognitive, learning, behavior, social and emotional skills).
This research topic aims to compile observational and interventional studies in preterm and term infants, and children up to 5 years, as well as in animal models of infant's neurodevelopment to:
1. Strengthen and add new evidence on the epidemiology of atypical neurodevelopment in children related to altered immune system-gut-brain axis early in life.
2. Provide evidence on the molecular mechanisms triggered by adverse early-life maternal and infant factors that result in the altered immune system-gut-brain axis in infants, and are associated with atypical neurodevelopment in children.
3. Develop prediction models to identify early in life the infants at risk of neurodevelopmental delays and disorders.
4. Search for strategies to preserve and interventions to modulate the development of the immune system-gut-brain axis in infants to prevent and treat neurodevelopmental delays and disorders.
We welcome submissions of Original Research, Clinical Trial, Study Protocol, Systematic Review, Review, and Mini-Review articles that address the following topics:
• Epidemiology of neurodevelopmental delays and disorders in children associated with the disturbance of the developing immune system-gut-brain axis in early life.
• Molecular mechanisms triggered by adverse early-life maternal and infant factors that result in dysregulated immune function, metabolism, gut microbiome, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, neurotransmitters levels, and altered brain development.
• Machine learning and statistical modeling to predict neurodevelopmental delays and disorders in children.
• Interventions and strategies to prevent and treat neurodevelopmental delays and disorders in children.
Adverse early-life maternal and infant factors have been associated with atypical neurodevelopment in infants and children, and these include maternal disease and poor nutritional status (undernutrition, obesity, deficient macro- and micro-nutrients intake); maternal stress, pollutant exposures, and maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy; intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), low gestational age and birth weight; infant antibiotic exposure (prenatal, intrapartum, postnatal); preterm birth; poor early-life infant's nutrition, neonatal infection and inflammation (e.g. neonatal sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis), and pollutant exposures. Increasing evidence suggests that these adverse early-life maternal and infant factors disturb the development of the immune system-gut-brain axis in infants and associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy (CP), epilepsy, neurodevelopmental delays and disorders (motor, speech, language, cognitive, learning, behavior, social and emotional skills).
This research topic aims to compile observational and interventional studies in preterm and term infants, and children up to 5 years, as well as in animal models of infant's neurodevelopment to:
1. Strengthen and add new evidence on the epidemiology of atypical neurodevelopment in children related to altered immune system-gut-brain axis early in life.
2. Provide evidence on the molecular mechanisms triggered by adverse early-life maternal and infant factors that result in the altered immune system-gut-brain axis in infants, and are associated with atypical neurodevelopment in children.
3. Develop prediction models to identify early in life the infants at risk of neurodevelopmental delays and disorders.
4. Search for strategies to preserve and interventions to modulate the development of the immune system-gut-brain axis in infants to prevent and treat neurodevelopmental delays and disorders.
We welcome submissions of Original Research, Clinical Trial, Study Protocol, Systematic Review, Review, and Mini-Review articles that address the following topics:
• Epidemiology of neurodevelopmental delays and disorders in children associated with the disturbance of the developing immune system-gut-brain axis in early life.
• Molecular mechanisms triggered by adverse early-life maternal and infant factors that result in dysregulated immune function, metabolism, gut microbiome, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, neurotransmitters levels, and altered brain development.
• Machine learning and statistical modeling to predict neurodevelopmental delays and disorders in children.
• Interventions and strategies to prevent and treat neurodevelopmental delays and disorders in children.
Keywords: immune system-gut-brain axis, ADHS, ASD, neurodevelopmental disorder, neurodevelopmental delay
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
