Association between Intestinal Microbiota in Infants and their Neurodevelopment: Systematic Literature Review on Scoping Review Methodology

Background . The long-term effects of large intestine microbiota or its disorders on human health remain largely unexplored. Particularly the issue of an association between the intestinal microbiota in newborns and infants with their further neurodevelopment remains unclear. Objective. The aim of the study is to systematically summarize studies' results on the association of large intestine microbiota (its normal composition and in case of any disorders) in newborns and infants and their neurodevelopment until the age of 1 year. Methods . The search of publications was performed in the following databases: Medline, Web of Science (WoS), Scientific electronic library (eLIBRARY.RU), and CyberLeninka. The publication period was dated from January 2001 to May 2022 (until December 2021 for WoS). The review included studies that examined the an association of large intestine microbiota in newborns and infants with their neurodevelopment until the age of 1 year, the presence of nervous system pathology, behavioral and/or emotional disorders. Languages of analyzed publications were Russian and English. Results . The review includes data from 9 studies. Data on the association of the intestine microbiota (its composition and/or the number of microorganisms) with neurodevelopment at the early age is summarized. Conclusion . Large intestine microbiota of infants is regarded as new non-invasive biomarker of their neurodevelopment. Differences in the design of published original studies included in the systematic literature review do not allow us to assess the role of individual microbiota components in infant’s neurodevelopment.