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Review
. 2023 May 17;14(10):1717-1763.
doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00127. Epub 2023 May 8.

Gut Microbiome-Brain Alliance: A Landscape View into Mental and Gastrointestinal Health and Disorders

Janet M Sasso  1 , Ramy M Ammar  2 , Rumiana Tenchov  1 , Steven Lemmel  1 , Olaf Kelber  2 , Malte Grieswelle  2 , Qiongqiong Angela Zhou  1
Affiliations
Review

Gut Microbiome-Brain Alliance: A Landscape View into Mental and Gastrointestinal Health and Disorders

Janet M Sasso et al. ACS Chem Neurosci. .

Abstract

Gut microbiota includes a vast collection of microorganisms residing within the gastrointestinal tract. It is broadly recognized that the gut and brain are in constant bidirectional communication, of which gut microbiota and its metabolic production are a major component, and form the so-called gut microbiome-brain axis. Disturbances of microbiota homeostasis caused by imbalance in their functional composition and metabolic activities, known as dysbiosis, cause dysregulation of these pathways and trigger changes in the blood-brain barrier permeability, thereby causing pathological malfunctions, including neurological and functional gastrointestinal disorders. In turn, the brain can affect the structure and function of gut microbiota through the autonomic nervous system by regulating gut motility, intestinal transit and secretion, and gut permeability. Here, we examine data from the CAS Content Collection, the largest collection of published scientific information, and analyze the publication landscape of recent research. We review the advances in knowledge related to the human gut microbiome, its complexity and functionality, its communication with the central nervous system, and the effect of the gut microbiome-brain axis on mental and gut health. We discuss correlations between gut microbiota composition and various diseases, specifically gastrointestinal and mental disorders. We also explore gut microbiota metabolites with regard to their impact on the brain and gut function and associated diseases. Finally, we assess clinical applications of gut-microbiota-related substances and metabolites with their development pipelines. We hope this review can serve as a useful resource in understanding the current knowledge on this emerging field in an effort to further solving of the remaining challenges and fulfilling its potential.

Keywords: DGBI; bacteria; brain; dysbiosis; gut; intestine; mental; metabolite; microbiota; microorganism.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): R.M.A and O.K. are employed by Bayer Consumer Health, Germany. M.G. was an intern in Bayer consumer health, Germany during writing this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of major research and development milestones related to the microbiome.−,,−
Figure 2
Figure 2
Journal and patent publication trends on gut microbiome research related to mental and gut health according to the CAS Content Collection. Inset: microbiome vs proteome document yearly trends.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Top countries publishing journal articles (A) and patents (B) related to gut microbiome research in mental and gut health.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Flow of patent filings related to gut microbiome research in mental and gut health from different patent assignee locations (left) to various patent offices of filing (right). The abbreviations on the right indicate the patent offices of United States (US), Australia (AU), World Intellectual Property Organization (WO), Canada (CA), Austria (AT), European Patent Office (EP), Israel (IL), Norway (NO), Hong Kong (HK), Mexico (MX), Japan (JP), Brazil (BR), Spain (ES), India (IN), Russian Federation (RU), China (CN), and Korea (KR).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Key concepts in the scientific publications relevant to the gut microbiome research in mental and gut health. (A) Number of publications exploring key concepts related to gut microbiome research in mental and gut health. (B) Trends in key concepts presented in the articles related to gut microbiome research in mental and gut health during the years 2016–2021. Percentages are calculated with yearly publication numbers for each key concept, normalized by the total number of publications for the same concept in the same time period.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Gut-microbiota-participant bacteria.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Representation (as number of records) of the gut bacteria phyla and species in the CAS Content Collection.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Distribution of the publications in the CAS Content Collection related to gut microbiome-associated diseases.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Trends in the number of publications concerning gut microbiome-related diseases during the years 2016–2021. Percentages are calculated with yearly publication numbers for each disease, normalized by the total number of publications for the same disease in the same time period.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Correlation between major classes of gut bacteria with mental and gastrointestinal disorders, as reflected in the number of associated records in the CAS Content Collection.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Trends in the therapeutic strategies applied for the treatment of mental and gastrointestinal disorders, as presented in the documents related to gut microbiome research during the years 2017–2021. Percentages are calculated with yearly publication numbers for each type of therapeutic intervention normalized by the total number of publications for the same intervention in the same time period.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Exemplary gut microbiome metabolites and their mechanism of action in gut–brain communications.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Gut microbiome metabolite classes and their roles in digestive system functions.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Top universities, research institutes, and hospitals publications (1967–2022) related to gut microbiome research in mental and gastrointestinal health: (A) journal publications and (B) patents.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Overall capital raised and deal counts of venture capital investment for the prebiotic, probiotic, and the microbiome field ($) (source: pitchbook.com).
Figure 16
Figure 16
(Left) The percentage and number of analyzed global organizations utilizing probiotics for mental disorders and DGBI treatment. (Right) The percentage and number of analyzed global organizations utilizing prebiotics for mental disorders and DGBI treatment.
Figure 17
Figure 17
(Left) The percentage and number of analyzed global organizations utilizing postbiotics for mental disorders and DGBI treatment. (Right) The percentage and number of analyzed global organizations utilizing fecal transplant for mental disorders and DGBI treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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