From gut dysbiosis to altered brain function and mental illness: mechanisms and pathways

By G. Rogers, D. Keating, R. Young, Ma-Li Wong, J. Licinio, S. Wesselingh. Molecular Psychiatry, 2016

877 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The human body hosts an enormous abundance and diversity of microbes, which perform a range of essential and beneficial functions. Our appreciation of the importance of these microbial communities to many aspects of human physiology has grown dramatically in recent years. We know, for example, that animals raised in a germ-free environment exhibit substantially altered immune and metabolic function, while the disruption of commensal microbiota in humans is associated with the development of a growing number of diseases. Evidence is now emerging that, through interactions with the gut–brain axis, the bidirectional communication system between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract, the gut microbiome can also influence neural development, cognition and behaviour, with recent evidence that changes in behaviour alter gut microbiota composition, while modifications of the microbiome can induce depressive-like behaviours. Although an association between enteropathy and certain psychiatric conditions has long been recognized, it now appears that gut microbes represent direct mediators of psychopathology. Here, we examine roles of gut microbiome in shaping brain development and neurological function, and the mechanisms by which it can contribute to mental illness. Further, we discuss how the insight provided by this new and exciting field of research can inform care and provide a basis for the design of novel, microbiota-targeted, therapies.

Subfields: Biological Psychiatry, Gastroenterology, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fe73a76329b18a52857b5d46447481030d26099b

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Citations in the corpus

Gut Microbiota is Altered in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (2018, neutral): “Gut microbiota could also influence neural development [16].”
The Continuum of Aging and Age-Related Diseases: Common Mechanisms but Different Rates (2018, background): “Alterations in the serotonin system could represent the common denominator of the alterations of the sleep, mood, and sexual conduction often observed in elderly as well as of other modifications such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (25).”
Prenatal developmental origins of behavior and mental health: The influence of maternal stress in pregnancy. (2017, background): “mediating the effects of prenatal stress on neurodevelopment in the perinatal period (Bale et al., 2010; Fernández et al., 2013; Grönlund et al., 2011; Jašarević et al., 2015a; Jašarević et al., 2015b; Logan, 2015; O’Mahony et al.; Palagini et al., 2015; Rogers et al., 2016; Stokholm et al., 2016; Z”
The Bidirectional Relationship of Depression and Inflammation: Double Trouble (2020, background): “Recent evidence indicates the presence of microbiome alterations in depressed patients (Rogers et al., 2016), which therefore might contribute to dysregulated inflammatory responses.”