Critical Review: GUT (BMJ Journal)

Full Title: *Gut – An International Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology* Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group ISSN: 0017-5749 Impact Factor (2024): ~31.7 Open Access: Hybrid model Website: https://gut.bmj.com/

*Gut* is a leading peer-reviewed journal in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials on gastrointestinal diseases, liver disorders, microbiome science, and translational immunology. The journal is known for its high impact factor and its affiliation with the British Society of Gastroenterology.

• Scientific Rigor: Articles are typically well-designed, with strong statistical analyses and methodological transparency.
• Clinical Relevance: The journal emphasizes translational and clinical applicability, often influencing international guidelines (e.g., IBD, liver cirrhosis).
• Microbiome Research: Gut is one of the foremost platforms for microbiome-human health interaction studies.
• Editorial Integrity: Transparent peer review process, frequent publication of corrections and retractions when needed.
• Interdisciplinary Appeal: Attracts readership from immunology, oncology, surgery, and even neurology via gut-brain axis research.

• Overrepresentation of Observational Studies: Despite its high standing, many articles remain observational with limited mechanistic depth.
• Geographic Bias: High proportion of articles originate from European and East Asian institutions; limited representation from low- and middle-income countries.
• Microbiome Overemphasis: The journal sometimes prioritizes microbiome correlations without establishing causality, potentially promoting speculative interpretations.
• Limited Neurosurgical Content: Despite increasing interest in the gut-brain axis, content related to neurosurgery or neuroinflammation is still peripheral.

• Seminal papers on fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT).
• Landmark studies on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and colorectal cancer screening.
• Ongoing contributions to IBD pathophysiology and immunotherapy-related colitis.

• Gut–Brain Axis: Explores the bidirectional interaction between the gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system—relevant to neuroinflammation, psychiatric comorbidities, and neurodegeneration.
• Microbiome-Immunology: Insights into systemic immune modulation may impact neurosurgical conditions with inflammatory or autoimmune components (e.g., multiple sclerosis, glioma microenvironment).
• Nutrition and Recovery: Articles on enteral nutrition, gut permeability, and systemic inflammation have implications for neurosurgical critical care.

*Gut* is a prestigious journal with broad implications across medical disciplines. While not directly focused on neurosurgery, its translational content, especially regarding the microbiome, systemic inflammation, and immune modulation, is increasingly relevant. Neurosurgeons should be alert to its findings—particularly in neurocritical care, postoperative inflammation, and emerging gut–brain axis paradigms.

• Editorial Board, Gut. (2024). About the journal. Retrieved from https://gut.bmj.com/
• Knight R, et al. (2020). Best practices for analyzing microbiomes. *Gut*.
• Dinan TG, Cryan JF. (2017). Gut-brain axis in 2017: Brain-gut-microbiota axis—Mood, metabolism and behaviour. *Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol*.