Researchers have found a two-way link between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and intestinal changes. These interactions may contribute to increased infections in these patients, and may also worsen chronic brain damage. Scientists from University of Maryland School of Medicine performed an experiment wherein they examined mice that received an experimental TBI. They found that the intestinal wall of the colon became more permeable after the trauma, and the changes were sustained over the following month. However, it is not clear how TBI could cause these gut changes.
They also focused on the two-way nature of the process– how gut dysfunction may worsen brain inflammation and tissue loss after TBI. They infected mice with Citrobacter rodentinum , a bacterium that is the rodent-equivalent of E. coli , which colonizes the human gut. In mice with a TBI who were infected with this the…
