Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27045844›Full record

ArticleTranslational psychiatry2016

Regulation of prefrontal cortex myelination by the microbiota.

A E Hoban, R M Stilling, F J Ryan, F Shanahan, T G Dinan, M J Claesson, G Clarke, J F Cryan

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Translational psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06279858 (Probiotic Intervention for Microbiome Modifications and Consequential Clinical Improvements in Children With Fragile X Syndrome), which is not on this map. Cited by 329 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
329citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
35.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT06279858 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Probiotic Intervention for Microbiome Modifications and Consequential Clinical Improvements in Children With Fragile X Syndrome: Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorSpecila hospital for cerebral palsy and developmental neurologyRan2024 to 2024Enrolled15ConditionsFragile X SyndromeArmsProbiotics
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

329 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 629 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Efficacy ofWorld journal of psychiatry · 2025
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  15. The Critical Period Microbiota Shape Brain Plasticity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
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  17. Article
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269 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

A E HobanAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
R M StillingAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
F J RyanAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
F ShanahanAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
T G DinanAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
M J ClaessonAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
G ClarkeAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
J F CryanAPC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
University College Cork · IEAPC Microbiome Institute · IE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a key region implicated in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and autism. In parallel, the role of the gut microbiota in contributing to these disorders is emerging. Germ-free (GF) animals, microbiota-deficient throughout life, have been instrumental in elucidating the role of the microbiota in many aspects of physiology, especially the role of the microbiota in anxiety-related behaviours, impaired social cognition and stress responsivity. Here we aim to further elucidate the mechanisms of the microbial influence by investigating changes in the homeostatic regulation of neuronal transcription of GF mice within the PFC using a genome-wide transcriptome profiling approach. Our results reveal a marked, concerted upregulation of genes linked to myelination and myelin plasticity. This coincided with upregulation of neural activity-induced pathways, potentially driving myelin plasticity. Subsequent investigation at the ultrastructural level demonstrated the presence of hypermyelinated axons within the PFC of GF mice. Notably, these changes in myelin and activity-related gene expression could be reversed by colonization with a conventional microbiota following weaning. In summary, we believe we demonstrate for the first time that the microbiome is necessary for appropriate and dynamic regulation of myelin-related genes with clear implications for cortical myelination at an ultrastructural level. The microbiota is therefore a potential therapeutic target for psychiatric disorders involving dynamic myelination in the PFC.

Indexed as

AnimalsBlotting, WesternGene Expression ProfilingMiceMicrobiotaMicroscopy, Electron, TransmissionMyelin SheathPrefrontal CortexReal-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionSynaptic TransmissionTranscriptomeUp-Regulation

Identifiers

PMID27045844
PMCPMC4872400
OpenAlexW2313364663

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.