Introduction to the Special Issue "The Brain-Gut Axis"

Author: Yvette Taché1, Juan M Saavedra2
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, CURE Building 115, Room 117, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA. <sup>2</sup> Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Georgetown University Medical Center, SE402 Med/Dent, 3900, Reservoir Road, Washington, DC, 20057, USA. juan.saavedra@georgetown.edu.
Conference/Journal: Cell Mol Neurobiol
Date published: 2021 Oct 15
Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s10571-021-01155-7. , Word Count: 139


This special Issue presents comprehensive and state-of-the-art advances in supporting the crucial role of the bidirectional interactions between the Brain-Gut Axis in health and diseases with an emphasis on the microbiome-gut-brain axis and its implications in variety of neurological disorders. There are intimate connections between the brain and the digestive system. Gut microbiota dysbiosis activates the intestinal immune system, enhances intestinal permeability and bacterial translocation, leading to neuroinflammation, epigenetic changes, cerebrovascular alterations, amyloid β formation and α-synuclein protein aggregates. These alterations may participate in the development of hypertension, Alzheimer, Parkinson, stroke, epilepsy and autism. Brainstem nuclei such as the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) regulate gastric motor function by way of bidirectional inputs through the vagus nerve.

Keywords: Brain inflammation; Gut dysbiosis; Neurodegenerative disorders; Stress; Stroke.

PMID: 34652580 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-021-01155-7