The Premature Infants’ Gut Microbiota Assembly and Neurodevelopment (PIGMAN) Cohort Study: Protocol for a Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort Study

Advanced analytical approaches incorporating causal inference methodologies will be implemented to identify significant microbial and metabolic biomarkers associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm neonates, and to establish causal pathways between these biomarkers and neurodevelopment. These analytical advancements will facilitate the construction of predictive models that utilize temporal microbial signatures and metabolite trajectories as prognostic indicators for neurodevelopmental outcomes. Causal inference method evaluations will further reveal that specific gut-derived metabolites, particularly those involved in cholesterol metabolism and neural signaling pathways-such as bile acids and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)-exhibit superior predictive capacity for cognitive development trajectories. Anticipated Conclusions: The findings will collectively suggest that longitudinal metabolic profiling of the gut ecosystem, when combined with causal network analysis, provides a novel paradigm for developing clinically actionable predictive models of neurodevelopment in vulnerable preterm populations.

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Publication Details

Journal
Children
Published
2025-12-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/children12121644
Primary Topic
Gut microbiota and health
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

The Premature Infants’ Gut Microbiota Assembly and Neurodevelopment (PIGMAN) Cohort Study: Protocol for a Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort Study

Wei Zhou, Chuan Nie, Xinle Pang, Wenhao Zhou et al.
Children
Gut microbiota and health
article

The Premature Infants’ Gut Microbiota Assembly and Neurodevelopment (PIGMAN) Cohort Study: Protocol for a Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort Study

Wei Zhou, Chuan Nie, Xinle Pang, Wenhao Zhou, Mingbang Wang, Yongfu Yu, Yingmei Xie, Cheng Chen, Tingting Li, Shujuan Zeng, Chunquan Cai, Yanping Guo, Xianhong Chen, Zhangbin Yu, Guang Yang, Yu-Chin Su, Hanhua Yang, Youming He, Heng Chen, Long Li, Yanli Wang, Ling Lin, Aiping Liu, Huifeng Zhang, Yan Huang, Tiantian Xiao, Guoqiang Cheng, L. Yu, L W Fang, Xiaoguang Zhou
article en

Abstract

Advanced analytical approaches incorporating causal inference methodologies will be implemented to identify significant microbial and metabolic biomarkers associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm neonates, and to establish causal pathways between these biomarkers and neurodevelopment. These analytical advancements will facilitate the construction of predictive models that utilize temporal microbial signatures and metabolite trajectories as prognostic indicators for neurodevelopmental outcomes. Causal inference method evaluations will further reveal that specific gut-derived metabolites, particularly those involved in cholesterol metabolism and neural signaling pathways-such as bile acids and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)-exhibit superior predictive capacity for cognitive development trajectories. Anticipated Conclusions: The findings will collectively suggest that longitudinal metabolic profiling of the gut ecosystem, when combined with causal network analysis, provides a novel paradigm for developing clinically actionable predictive models of neurodevelopment in vulnerable preterm populations.

ChildrenVol. 12(12)
Hebei Medical University (CN), Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (CN), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN), Harbin Medical University (CN), Sun Yat-sen University (CN), Fudan University (CN), Chinese PLA General Hospital (CN), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), United States Public Health Service (US), Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital (CN), Longgang Central Hospital (CN), Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University (CN), Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital (CN), Guangzhou Women and Children Medical Center (CN), Tianjin Children's Hospital (CN), People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (CN), Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University (CN), Peking University Shenzhen Hospital (CN), Shenzhen Bao'an District People's Hospital (CN), University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital (CN), Southern Medical University Shenzhen Hospital (CN), Guangdong Province Women and Children Hospital (CN), Shenzhen Children's Hospital (CN), Children's Hospital of Fudan University (CN), Chinese People’s Liberation Army 263 hospital (CN), Shenzhen Second People's Hospital (CN), Eighth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou Medical University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 66%
Gut microbiota and health
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