VIENNA (Dispatches) -- University of Vienna researchers have found that extremely premature infants are at a high risk for brain damage. They have discovered possible targets for the early treatment of such damage outside the brain: Bacteria in the gut of premature infants may play a key role.
The research team found that the overgrowth of the gastrointestinal tract with the bacterium Klebsiella is associated with an increased presence of certain immune cells and the development of neurological damage in premature babies.
David Berry, microbiologist and head of the research group at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the University of Vienna says that they have been able to identify certain patterns in the microbiome and immune response that are clearly linked to the progression and severity of brain injury, suggesting a critical time window during which brain damage of extremely premature infants may be prevented from worsening or even avoided.