Human milk oligosaccharides reduce necrotizing enterocolitis-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in mice

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in premature infants. One of the most devastating complications of NEC is the development of NEC-induced brain injury, which manifests as impaired cognition that persists beyond infancy and which represents a proinflammatory activation of the gut-brain axis. Given that oral administration of the human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) 2 '-fucosyllactose (2 '-FL) and 6 '-sialyslactose (6 '-SL) significantly reduced intestinal inflammation in mice, we hypothesized that oral administration of these HMOs would reduce NEC-induced brain injury and sought to determine the mechanisms involved. We now show that the administration of either 2 '-FL or 6 '-SL significantly attenuated NEC-induced brain injury, reversed myelin loss in the corpus callosum and midbrain of newborn mice, and prevented the impaired cognition observed in mice with NEC-induced brain injury. In seeking to define the mechanisms involved, 2 '-FL or 6 '-SL administration resulted in a restoration of the blood-brain barrier in newborn mice and also had a direct anti-inflammatory effect on the brain as revealed through the study of brain organoids. Metabolites of 2 '-FL were detected in the infant mouse brain by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), whereas intact 2 '-FL was not. Strikingly, the beneficial effects of 2 '-FL or 6 '-SL against NEC-induced brain injury required the release of the neurotrophic factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as mice lacking BDNF were not protected by these HMOs from the development of NEC-induced brain injury. Taken in aggregate, these findings reveal that the HMOs 2 '-FL and 6 '-SL interrupt the gut-brain inflammatory axis and reduce the risk of NEC-induced brain injury. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study reveals that the administration of human milk oligosaccharides, which are present in human breast milk, can interfere with the proinflammatory gut-brain axis and prevent neuroinflammation in the setting of necrotizing enterocolitis, a major intestinal disorder seen in premature infants.