TY - JOUR
T1 - Neurodegenerative and Neurodevelopmental Diseases and the Gut-Brain Axis
T2 - The Potential of Therapeutic Targeting of the Microbiome
AU - Bicknell, Brian
AU - Liebert, Ann
AU - Borody, Thomas
AU - Herkes, Geoffrey
AU - McLachlan, Craig
AU - Kiat, Hosen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - The human gut microbiome contains the largest number of bacteria in the body and has the potential to greatly influence metabolism, not only locally but also systemically. There is an established link between a healthy, balanced, and diverse microbiome and overall health. When the gut microbiome becomes unbalanced (dysbiosis) through dietary changes, medication use, lifestyle choices, environmental factors, and ageing, this has a profound effect on our health and is linked to many diseases, including lifestyle diseases, metabolic diseases, inflammatory diseases, and neurological diseases. While this link in humans is largely an association of dysbiosis with disease, in animal models, a causative link can be demonstrated. The link between the gut and the brain is particularly important in maintaining brain health, with a strong association between dysbiosis in the gut and neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. This link suggests not only that the gut microbiota composition can be used to make an early diagnosis of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases but also that modifying the gut microbiome to influence the microbiome–gut–brain axis might present a therapeutic target for diseases that have proved intractable, with the aim of altering the trajectory of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autism spectrum disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, among others. There is also a microbiome–gut–brain link to other potentially reversible neurological diseases, such as migraine, post-operative cognitive dysfunction, and long COVID, which might be considered models of therapy for neurodegenerative disease. The role of traditional methods in altering the microbiome, as well as newer, more novel treatments such as faecal microbiome transplants and photobiomodulation, are discussed.
AB - The human gut microbiome contains the largest number of bacteria in the body and has the potential to greatly influence metabolism, not only locally but also systemically. There is an established link between a healthy, balanced, and diverse microbiome and overall health. When the gut microbiome becomes unbalanced (dysbiosis) through dietary changes, medication use, lifestyle choices, environmental factors, and ageing, this has a profound effect on our health and is linked to many diseases, including lifestyle diseases, metabolic diseases, inflammatory diseases, and neurological diseases. While this link in humans is largely an association of dysbiosis with disease, in animal models, a causative link can be demonstrated. The link between the gut and the brain is particularly important in maintaining brain health, with a strong association between dysbiosis in the gut and neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. This link suggests not only that the gut microbiota composition can be used to make an early diagnosis of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases but also that modifying the gut microbiome to influence the microbiome–gut–brain axis might present a therapeutic target for diseases that have proved intractable, with the aim of altering the trajectory of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autism spectrum disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, among others. There is also a microbiome–gut–brain link to other potentially reversible neurological diseases, such as migraine, post-operative cognitive dysfunction, and long COVID, which might be considered models of therapy for neurodegenerative disease. The role of traditional methods in altering the microbiome, as well as newer, more novel treatments such as faecal microbiome transplants and photobiomodulation, are discussed.
KW - Alzheimer’s disease
KW - autism spectrum disorder
KW - faecal microbiome transplants
KW - microbiome
KW - neurodegenerative disease
KW - neurodevelopmental disease
KW - Parkinson’s disease
KW - photobiomodulation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85161536577&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijms24119577
DO - 10.3390/ijms24119577
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85161536577
SN - 1661-6596
VL - 24
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
IS - 11
M1 - 9577
ER -