The intestine serves as a vast interface between our internal milieu and external environments. Evidence is rapidly accumulating that the microbes residing within the intestinal tract play major roles in the ontogenesis of the immune system, and interact with the gut as well as the central nervous systems.
An aberrant microbial colonization with consequential immaturity in development of immune and neuronal pattern of gastrointestinal tract may be a coexisting cause of feeding intolerance. Abnormal colonization should constantly be kept in mind as an important environmental factor that predisposes to disease also later in life