Study links influenza A viral infection to microbiome, brain gene expression changes
In a study of newborn piglets, infection with influenza A was associated with disruptions in the piglets’ nasal and gut microbiomes and with potentially detrimental changes in gene activity in the hippocampus, a brain structure that plays a central role in learning and memory. Maternal vaccination against the virus during pregnancy appeared to offer some protection from those changes in the piglets.
The researchers relied on the expertise of Illinois animal sciences professor and study coauthor Adrienne Antonson, who explores the prenatal origins of neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders. Previous work from Antonson’s lab found that a viral infection during pregnancy can disrupt piglets’ hippocampal development and function.
“We are the first to use a neonatal piglet model to study the interaction between the microbiome and brain gene function,” said Ying Fang, who led the research with fellow pathobiology professor Christopher Gaulke. The microbiome also appears to play an important role in normal brain development, Gaulke said.