Work

Focus on the essentials: tryptophan metabolism and the microbiome-gut-brain axis

Year: 2019

Type: review

Abstract: The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication system between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract, in which serotonin (5-HT) functions as a key neurotransmitter. Recent research has increasingly concentrated on tryptophan, the precursor to 5-HT and on the microbial regulation of tryptophan metabolism, with an emphasis on host-microbe control over kynurenine pathway metabolism and microbial-specific pathways that generate bioactive tryptophan metabolites. Here, we critically assess recent progress made towards a mechanistic understanding of the microbial regulation of tryptophan metabolism and microbiota-gut-brain axis homeostasis highlighting the role tryptophan metabolism plays in preclinical and clinical neuroscience and in the challenge to improve our understanding of how perturbed tryptophan metabolism contributes to stress-related psychiatric disorders.

Source: Current Opinion in Pharmacology

DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2019.08.004

Authors: Cassandra Elise Gheorghe, Jason A Martin, Francisca Villalobos Manriquez, Timothy G Dinan, John F Cryan, Gerard Clarke

Institutions: University College Cork, APC Microbiome Institute, Infant

Language: English

Topic: Tryptophan and brain disorders

Subfield: Biological Psychiatry

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze