Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience (Apr 2013)

Cerebral low-molecular metabolites influenced by intestinal microbiota: a pilot study

  • Mitsuharu eMatsumoto,
  • Ryoko eKibe,
  • Takushi eOoga,
  • Yuji eAiba,
  • Emiko eSawaki,
  • Yasuhiro eKoga,
  • Yoshimi eBenno

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2013.00009
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7

Abstract

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Recent studies suggest that intestinal microbiota influences gut-brain communication. In this study, we aimed to clarify the influence of intestinal microbiota on cerebral metabolism. We analyzed the cerebral metabolome of germ-free (GF) mice and ex-germ-free (Ex-GF) mice, which were inoculated with suspension of feces obtained from specific pathogen free mice, using capillary electrophoresis with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CE-TOFMS). CE-TOFMS identified 196 metabolites from the cerebral metabolome in both GF and Ex-GF mice. The concentrations of 38 metabolites differed significantly (p < 0.05) between GF and Ex-GF mice. Approximately 10 of these metabolites are known to be involved in brain function, whilst the functions of the remainder are unclear. Furthermore, we observed a novel association between cerebral glycolytic metabolism and intestinal microbiota. Our work shows that cerebral metabolites are influenced by normal intestinal microbiota through the microbiota-gut-brain axis, and indicates that normal intestinal microbiota closely connected with brain health and disease, development, attenuation, learning, memory, and behavior.

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