Microbiome, Nutrition, and Neurodevelopment in a One Health Perspective: From Early-Life Programming to Autism

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, “Microbiome, Nutrition, and Neurodevelopment in a One Health Perspective: From Early-Life Programming to Autism”, aims to explore the complex interplay between nutrition, the microbiome, and neurodevelopment across the early stages of life. Increasing evidence highlights how early-life exposures, including maternal diet, breastfeeding, antibiotic exposure, and environmental factors, shape the infant gut microbiota, with long-term consequences for brain development and health outcomes. Within a One Health framework, this topic integrates human, environmental, and microbial dimensions, recognizing their interconnected role in shaping developmental trajectories.

Particular attention will be given to the microbiota–gut–brain axis as a key biological pathway linking perinatal nutrition, antibiotic exposure, and microbial dysbiosis to neurodevelopmental outcomes, including autism spectrum disorder. This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews addressing mechanisms, clinical evidence, and translational approaches, with a focus on maternal–infant health, human milk microbiota, and early-life programming.

By fostering interdisciplinary contributions, this collection aims to advance understanding of how modifiable early-life factors influence neurodevelopment, and to identify potential preventive and therapeutic strategies within a One Health perspective.

Dr. Valentina Biagioli
Prof. Dr. Pasquale Striano
Guest Editors

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