Neonatal Enteric Infection Disrupts the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis Through Pattern Recognition Receptors and Altered Neuroimmune Signaling

ABSTRACT Early-life enteric infection can have long-lasting effects on the microbiota–gut–brain (MGB) axis. Using a neonatal Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) model, we show that intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) NOD1 signaling coordinates mucosal immunity, barrier repair, and neuroimmune outcomes throughout early development and into adulthood. Neonates infected at postnatal day (P) 7 exhibited ileal inflammation, as demonstrated by increased expression of inflammatory cytokines ( Il1β , Il6 , Il12 , Il22 ), chemokines/chemokine receptors ( Ccl2 , Cxcl1 , Ccr2 ), and barrier-repair genes ( Muc2 , Slc26a3 ), with increased monocyte/macrophage infiltration and reduced epithelial proliferation in WT mice that was blunted in Nod1 ΔIEC mice. Neonatal infection of WT mice induced persistent defects into adulthood (P56), including increased intestinal permeability, sustained inflammatory/repair signatures, hippocampal inflammation, altered neurogenesis, and impaired recognition memory, which were largely absent in Nod1 ΔIEC mice, establishing a crucial role for IEC NOD1 as a determinant of long-term MGB remodeling. Microbially derived ligands of NOD2, muropeptides, isolated from probiotic Lactobacillus species attenuated EPEC-induced mucosal inflammation and chemokine induction without altering bacterial burden, demonstrating NOD2 host-directed immunomodulation. Together, these findings identify an important role for NOD-dependent signaling axis in the gastrointestinal tract that links early-life infection to enduring gut-brain dysfunction and reveals probiotic-derived muropeptides as candidate microbial therapeutics.