Sci. Adv.: Neurological disorders after severe pneumonia are associated with translocation of endogenous bacteria from the lung to the brain

Title：

Neurological disorders after severe pneumonia are associated with translocation of endogenous bacteria from the lung to the brain

Authors：

Qingle Ma¹, Chenlu Yao¹, Yi Wu¹, Heng Wang¹, Qin Fan⁴, Qianyu Yang¹, Jialu Xu¹, Huaxing Dai¹, Yue Zhang¹, Fang Xu¹, Ting Lu², Jennifer K Dowling³, Chao Wang¹*

Institutions：

¹Laboratory for Biomaterial and Immunoengineering, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.

²Institute of Pharmacology, Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Disease, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China

³School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Medical and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland

⁴Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biosensors, Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM) and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing, P. R. China

Abstract：

Neurological disorders are a common feature in patients who recover from severe acute pneumonia. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the neurological syndromes after severe acute pneumonia are partly attributed to the translocation of endogenous bacteria from the lung to the brain during pneumonia. Using principal components analysis, similarities were found between the brain’s flora species and those of the lungs, indicating that the bacteria detected in the brain may originate from the lungs. We also observed impairment of both the lung-blood and brain-blood barriers, allowing endogenous lung bacteria to invade the brain during pneumonia. An elevated microglia and astrocyte activation signature via bacterial infection–related pathways was observed, indicating a bacterial-induced disruption of brain homeostasis. Collectively, we identify endogenous lung bacteria that play a role in altering brain homeostasis, which provides insight into the mechanism of neurological syndromes after severe pneumonia.

IF：

14.957

Link：

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi0699