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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Assessing Cellular Stress and Inflammation in Discrete Oxytocin-secreting Brain Nuclei in the Neonatal Rat Before and After First Colostrum Feeding

Assessing Cellular Stress and Inflammation in Discrete Oxytocin-secreting Brain Nuclei in the Neonatal Rat Before and After First Colostrum Feeding

Published on: November 14, 2018

Oxytocin and the microbiome.

Bernard J Varian¹, Katherine T Weber¹, Susan E Erdman¹

¹Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.

Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology

|December 18, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The mammalian microbiome, particularly microbes like Lactobacillus reuteri, influences host health via the gut-brain-immune axis and oxytocin. These microbes promote multigenerational health and reproductive fitness.

Keywords:

Gut-brain-immune axis L. reuteri Probiotic Symbiont Symbiotic Vagus nerve

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Characterization and Functional Prediction of Bacteria in Ovarian Tissues

Characterization and Functional Prediction of Bacteria in Ovarian Tissues

Published on: October 23, 2021

Area of Science:

Microbiology
Neuroendocrinology
Immunology

Background:

The mammalian host microbiome significantly impacts systemic health.
An integrated gut-brain-immune axis and the hormone oxytocin are key mediators.
Microbial symbionts, exemplified by Lactobacillus reuteri, play roles in host fitness.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the connection between microbial symbionts and host health.
To investigate the role of oxytocin in mediating the effects of the microbiome.
To understand the evolutionary significance of the microbiome-oxytocin interaction.

Main Methods:

Utilized animal models to study microbial symbiont effects.
Investigated the influence of Lactobacillus reuteri in perinatal niches.
Examined the role of oxytocin in host-microbiome interactions.

Main Results:

Microbial symbionts leverage perinatal niches to enhance multigenerational health.
Lactobacillus reuteri was identified as a key microbial symbiont.
Oxytocin is implicated in linking microbial symbionts to host fitness and survival.

Conclusions:

The mammalian microbiome is integral to host health and survival.
Oxytocin plays a crucial role in the gut-brain-immune axis, connecting microbes to host fitness.
Microbiome-mediated effects on health and reproduction have evolutionary implications.