Graduate students of Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) College of Veterinary Medicine have elucidated a key role of gut microbiota in suppressing systemic inflammatory responses during infection with Japanese encephalitis virus, attracting attention from the international research community.

JBNU announced on the 1st that a research paper by Hye-won Cho, a master's graduate of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology (currently a teaching assistant), and Hee-won Byun, a doctoral student and co-first author, was recently published in the leading neuroinflammation journal Journal of Neuroinflammation (IF 10.1).

The paper was also introduced as a listed study in the Biological Research Information Center (BRIC)'s 'People Who Brightened Korea (Hanbisa),' recognizing the excellence of the research outcomes.

The research team confirmed that gut microbiota suppress systemic inflammation that can accompany central nervous system inflammation during Japanese encephalitis virus infection by promoting a Type I interferon–based innate immune response.

In particular, this is the first study to propose an important biological defense mechanism whereby gut microbiota inhibit viral dissemination to peripheral tissues after infection with a neurotropic virus, infections that were previously known to be confined to lesions within neural tissue.

Professor Seong-guk Eo (College of Veterinary Medicine), who supervised the students, said, 'As the first study to clarify the connection between gut microbiota and neuroinflammatory viral infections, it will attract significant attention in the field,' and added, 'It is expected to contribute to the development of therapeutic strategies for systemic inflammatory diseases in the future.'

Meanwhile, the study was conducted with support from the Mid-Career Researcher Support Program and the University-Focused Research Center Support Program, and was enabled by advanced research infrastructure provided by the JBNU Institute for Molecular Biology and Genetics (Zoonosis Core Research Support Center).