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Unravelling the potential of gut microbiota in sustaining brain health and their current prospective towards development of neurotherapeutics

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Abstract

Increasing incidences of neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are being reported, but an insight into their pathology remains elusive. Findings have suggested that gut microbiota play a major role in regulating brain functions through the gut–brain axis. A unique bidirectional communication between gut microbiota and maintenance of brain health could play a pivotal role in regulating incidences of neurodegenerative diseases. Contrarily, the present life style with changing food habits and disturbed circadian rhythm may contribute to gut homeostatic imbalance and dysbiosis leading to progression of several neurological disorders. Therefore, dysbiosis, as a primary factor behind intestinal disorders, may also augment inflammation, intestinal and blood–brain barrier permeability through microbiota–gut–brain axis. This review primarily focuses on the gut–brain axis functions, specific gut microbial population, metabolites produced by gut microbiota, their role in regulating various metabolic processes and role of gut microbiota towards development of neurodegenerative diseases. However, several studies have reported a decrease in abundance of a specific gut microbial population and a corresponding increase in other microbial family, with few findings revealing some contradictions. Reports also showed that colonization of gut microbiota isolated from patients suffering from neurodegenerative disease leads to the development of enhance pathological outcomes in animal models. Hence, a systematic understanding of the dominant role of specific gut microbiome towards development of different neurodegenerative diseases could possibly provide novel insight into the use of probiotics and microbial transplantation as a substitute approach for treating/preventing such health maladies.

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Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) and Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University) for providing the infrastructure facility and support. Dr. Chauhan and Dr. Das are the recipients of collaborative ICMR Extramural Research Grant (2020-9620). The authors also acknowledge the financial support provided by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Extramural Research grant (Reference No: 2020-9620). The authors also acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Ritendra Mishra, Mumbai, India who helped in the copy editing and proofreading of the manuscript.

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SKD and SC mainly conceptualized the notion of this review manuscript. AB and LKP revised the manuscript and contributed in literature review. PKS, KKJ and NRC contributed to the literature review. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors have reviewed the manuscript and given their consent to the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Saroj Kumar Das.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.

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Banerjee, A., Pradhan, L.K., Sahoo, P.K. et al. Unravelling the potential of gut microbiota in sustaining brain health and their current prospective towards development of neurotherapeutics. Arch Microbiol 203, 2895–2910 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-021-02276-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-021-02276-9

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