Probiotics function mechanistically as delivery vehicles for neuroactive compounds: Microbial endocrinology in the design and use of probiotics
- 6 July 2011
- Vol. 33 (8), 574-581
- https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201100024
Abstract
I hypothesize here that the ability of probiotics to synthesize neuroactive compounds provides a unifying microbial endocrinology-based mechanism to explain the hitherto incompletely understood action of commensal microbiota that affect the host's gastrointestinal and psychological health. Once ingested, probiotics enter an interactive environment encompassing microbiological, immunological, and neurophysiological components. By utilizing a trans-disciplinary framework known as microbial endocrinology, mechanisms that would otherwise not be considered become apparent since any candidate would need to be shared among all three components. The range of neurochemicals produced by probiotics includes neurochemicals for which receptor-based targets on immune and neuronal elements (intestinal and extra-intestinal) have been well characterized. Production of neurochemicals by probiotics therefore allows for their consideration as delivery vehicles for neuroactive compounds. This unifying microbial endocrinology-based hypothesis, which may facilitate the selection and design of probiotics for clinical use, also highlights the largely unrecognized role of neuroscience in understanding how microbes may influence health. Editor's suggested further reading in BioEssays Harvesting the biological potential of the human gut microbiome AbstractKeywords
This publication has 43 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bacteria Penetrate the Inner Mucus Layer before Inflammation in the Dextran Sulfate Colitis ModelPLOS ONE, 2010
- Inhibitory role for GABA in autoimmune inflammationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010
- Probiotics promote gut health through stimulation of epithelial innate immunityProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- Reciprocal gut–brain evolutionary symbiosis provokes and amplifies the postinjury systemic inflammatory response syndromeSurgery, 2009
- Metabolomics analysis reveals large effects of gut microflora on mammalian blood metabolitesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- Stress and bacteria: microbial endocrinologyGut, 2007
- Patients' fears and unmet needs in inflammatory bowel diseaseAlimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2004
- Evolution of cell–cell signaling in animals: did late horizontal gene transfer from bacteria have a role?Trends in Genetics, 2004
- The role of catecholamines in Gram-negative sepsisMedical Hypotheses, 1992
- Transmitter substances in insects: A reviewComparative and General Pharmacology, 1971