REVIEW article

Front. Pediatr.

Sec. Pediatric Immunology

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1509333

This article is part of the Research TopicInfection, Immunity and Microecology in ChildrenView all 4 articles

Research Progress on Microecology and Childhood Respiratory Infections via the Lung-Gut Axis

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
  • 2Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, Hubei, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Respiratory tract infections(RTIs) are a complex global public health challenge, with children being the most affected population. Affected children often exhibit gut microbiota-related symptoms, such as dysbiosis, feeding difficulties, and malabsorption. Studies show that the lungs and large intestine share embryological homology and a mucosal immune system, with gut microbiota influencing respiratory healtha phenomenon termed the 'lung-gut axis'. [1] . Gut dysbiosis may disrupt respiratory microbiota homeostasis, elevating susceptibility to respiratory infections. Probiotic administration mitigates gut dysbiosis and antibiotic resistance induced by antibiotic overuse. It can also restore the balance of gut microbiota, enhance the immune response and metabolic regulation, and thus prevent and assist in treating respiratory infections and other respiratory diseases. A deeper understanding of the relationship between the lung-gut axis microecology and respiratory infections in children may provide novel insights and approaches for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. This review will describe the normal microecology of the respiratory tract in children, the microecological changes associated with respiratory tract infections in children, and the interactions between the 'lung-gut axis' and the use of probiotics. It will also provide an outlook on these topics.

Keywords: Gut-Lung Axis, pediatric respiratory tract infections (RTIs), microbiota, Microecology, Probiotics

Received: 10 Oct 2024; Accepted: 03 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 He, Wang, Yin and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Jiao Yin, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, 441053, Hubei, China
Qiang Wang, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

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