ReviewPsychopharmacology2011
Maternal separation as a model of brain-gut axis dysfunction.
Review in Psychopharmacology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 177 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
177 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 402 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is there a dysbiosis in individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder compared to controls over the course of development? A systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Enterochromaffin Cells: Sentinels to Gut Microbiota in Hyperalgesia?Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Article
- Diet-Microbiome-Brain Axis and Mental Health: Biological Mechanisms and Nutritional Implications.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Environmental enrichment reverses ELS-induced visceral pain and depression through a prefrontal-limbic circuit involving CB1Rs.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Investigating the Role of Sodium Butyrate in Mouse Models of IBD: A Multimodal Structural and Functional MRI Study.Neural plasticity · 2026Article
- Early life stress and the pathogenesis of visceral hypersensitivity: mechanisms and implications for disorders of gut-brain interaction.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- The Gut-Brain Axis-From Science to Clinical Practice.Gastro hep advances · 2026Review
- Chronic stress, gut microbiota, and immunity: interconnections and implications for health.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2025Review
- Neuroimmune Crossroads: Pathophysiological Links Between Bipolar Disorder and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2025Review
- Obesity and Depression: A Pathophysiotoxic Relationship.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Host-microbiome relationship in depression: can human induced pluripotent stem cells play a role in unravelling mechanisms?NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Review
- Stress During Lactation: A Hidden Link to Offspring Bone Health.Calcified tissue international · 2025Article
- A Novel Combined Mung Bean and Mulberry Powder: Combination Index and Shelf Life of Total Phenolic, Anthocyanin, and GABA Contents and Neuroprotective Activity.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- The effects of a semen cuscutae flavonoids-based antidepressant treatment on microbiome and metabolome in mice.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Phytonutrients and their neuroprotective role in brain disorders.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Review
- Paternal separation as an independent risk factor for irritable bowel syndrome in rural Chinese left-behind children: a multicenter cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Limosilactobacillus reuteri ameliorates maternal separation stress in newborn mice and alters subsequent adult behaviour.Beneficial microbes · 2024Article
117 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleEarly life stress has been implicated in many psychiatric disorders ranging from depression to anxiety. Maternal separation in rodents is a well-studied model of early life stress. However, stress during this critical period also induces alterations in many systems throughout the body. Thus, a variety of other disorders that are associated with adverse early life events are often comorbid with psychiatric illnesses, suggesting a common underlying aetiology. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder that is thought to involve a dysfunctional interaction between the brain and the gut. Essential aspects of the brain-gut axis include spinal pathways, the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, the immune system, as well as the enteric microbiota. Accumulating evidence suggest that stress, especially in early life, is a predisposing factor to IBS.
objectiveThe objective of this review was to assess and compile the most relevant data on early life stress and alterations at all levels of the brain gut axis.
resultsIn this review, we describe the components of the brain-gut axis individually and how they are altered by maternal separation. The separated phenotype is characterised by alterations of the intestinal barrier function, altered balance in enteric microflora, exaggerated stress response and visceral hypersensitivity, which are all evident in IBS.
conclusionThus, maternally separated animals are an excellent model of brain-gut axis dysfunction for the study of disorders such as IBS and for the development of novel therapeutic interventions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.