Gut microbiota tagged posts

New research has discovered how the enteric nervous system — or ‘second brain’ — can communicate with both the brain and spinal cord, which up until now had remained a major mystery. The study found specialized cells within the gut wall release serotonin when stimulated by food, which then acts on the nerves to communicate with the brain. The authors say as there is a direct connection between serotonin levels in our body and depression and how we feel, understanding how the gut communicates with the brain is of major importance.

How the ‘second brain’ — the enteric nervous system in our gut — communicates with our first brain has been one of the most challenging questions faced by enteric neuroscientists, until now.

New research from Flinders University has discovered how speci...

Study finds a greater presence of these viruses in people who eat dairy products in their regular diet. New research associates the presence of Caudovirales in gut microbiota to an improvement in cognitive functions and memory in humans, mice and flies. The article, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, was led by Dr. Jordi Mayneris-Perxachs and Dr. José Manuel Fernández-Real, of the Nutrition, Eumetabolism and Health group of the Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI) Dr. Josep Trueta and CIBEROBN, and has been carried out in collaboration with the Neuropharmacology research group led by Dr...

An international research team has established a link between gut microbiota and chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. The team led by Éric Boilard of Université Laval has discovered that a protein naturally present in the gut acts on the microbiota and causes the formation of molecules that exacerbate the symptoms of these diseases. The details of this finding are published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation — Insight.

The protein in question, phospholipase A2-IIA, was discovered several years ago in the fluid that surrounds the joints of people with arthritis according to Dr. Boilard, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval and a researcher at CHU de Québec-Université Laval Research Centre...

Recent research has found that changes in the gut microbiota — the trillions of bacteria and other microbes that live in the intestines — can alter the brain and behavior. Now, a study led by scientists at UCLA could elucidate how and why that phenomenon occurs.

In the experiment, which was conducted with mice, researchers found that gut microbes can exacerbate the effects of cognitive impairment because of how they affect the hippocampus, the region of the brain that is critical for memory and learning...