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Assessing the Viability of a Synthetic Bacterial Consortium on the In Vitro Gut Host-microbe Interface
Published on: July 4, 2018
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Multiscale crosstalk between oral-gut microbiome and brain structure
Longtao Yang1, Wantong Xu2, Xuemei Wang3
1Department of Radiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.
Journal of Affective Disorders
|October 15, 2025
Summary
This study reveals significant associations between gut and salivary microbiota and brain structure variations. These findings highlight the microbiome
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Microbiology
- Genetics
Background:
- Brain macrostructural changes are linked to disease, and understanding the gut microbiome's role is crucial for mechanistic insights.
- Profiling the digestive tract microbiome signature offers a pathway to understanding brain health and disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the bidirectional associations between a wide range of gut and salivary microbiota and detailed brain structure imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs).
- To create a comprehensive atlas mapping microbiome-brain structure relationships using large-scale genetic and imaging data.
- To explore the potential of microbiome-brain axis in the context of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Main Methods:
- Employed genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from multiple large cohorts (MiBioGen, ADDITION-PRO, UK Biobank).
- Utilized bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess causal relationships between 239 microbiota and 283 brain structure IDPs.
- Performed bibliometric analysis of keyword co-occurrence to map the research landscape of the 'microbiome-brain' field.
Main Results:
- Identified 123 significant associations between 50 microbiota and 92 brain structure measures after Bonferroni correction in forward MR.
- Key microbiota taxa like Parvula species, unknown-Streptococcus species, and Neisseria genus showed numerous associations with specific brain regions.
- Inverse MR revealed fewer associations (8) between brain structure IDPs and microbiota, while bibliometric analysis highlighted depression as a major research focus in the microbiome-brain field.
Conclusions:
- Generated a comprehensive atlas detailing the association patterns between various microbiota and brain structure.
- The findings underscore the potential of the microbiome-brain axis in understanding and potentially managing brain disorders.
- This research provides a valuable resource for future studies on the interplay between microbial communities and neurological health.
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