ReviewNature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology2019
The role of short-chain fatty acids in microbiota-gut-brain communication.
Review in Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1,799 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1,799 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 3,018 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Nutritional modulation of neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review of clinical and preclinical evidence.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Alcohol Consumption and Gut Microbiota-Derived Metabolites in Primates: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Gut Microbiota Modulation as a Therapeutic Strategy for Insomnia: A Systematic Review of Nutritional and Botanical Interventions.Biomolecules · 2026Pooled it
- "Brain-First" vs. "Body-First" PD: Definitions and Implications in Everyday Clinical Practice: A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Pooled it
- Circulating Short-Chain Fatty Acid (SCFA) profiles as a biomarker of gut-brain axis dysfunction: A meta-analysis for the SCFA signature in major depression.Biomedical journal · 2026Pooled it
- Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease: a Systematic Review of Mechanistic Insights.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Pooled it
- Alterations of short-chain fatty acids in depression and effects of probiotics/prebiotics interventions on levels and clinical symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Akkermansia muciniphila enhances washed microbiota transplantation in the treatment of epilepsy.Chinese medical journal · 2026Trial
- Effects of Soluble Corn Fiber Consumption on Executive Functions and Gut Microbiota in Middle to Older Age Adults: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- The role of gut microbiome in aging-associated diseases: where do we stand now and how technology will transform the future.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome and pregnancy complications: emerging evidence and mechanistic insights.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Branched-chain amino acids and gut microbiota: coregulation and impact on neurological function via the gut-brain axis.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Review
- Gut microbiome-derived propionate reprograms alveolar macrophages metabolically and regulates lung injury responses in mice.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Article
- Gut bacteria and their metabolites may influence our decisions, intelligence, cognition, and consciousness.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Protease-serpin-microbiome interactions in inflammatory bowel disease: toward integrated biomarkers of gut health.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Short-chain fatty acid-producing commensals: Key modulators of AD neuroinflammation via the microbiota-gut-brain axis.Current research in microbial sciences · 2026Review
- Not all stress is equal: Examination stress and cortisol reactivity are associated with exploratory species-level variation but not broad restructuring of the gut microbiome.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
1,739 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 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the main metabolites produced by bacterial fermentation of dietary fibre in the gastrointestinal tract, are speculated to have a key role in microbiota-gut-brain crosstalk. However, the pathways through which SCFAs might influence psychological functioning, including affective and cognitive processes and their neural basis, have not been fully elucidated. Furthermore, research directly exploring the role of SCFAs as potential mediators of the effects of microbiota-targeted interventions on affective and cognitive functioning is sparse, especially in humans. This Review summarizes existing knowledge on the potential of SCFAs to directly or indirectly mediate microbiota-gut-brain interactions. The effects of SCFAs on cellular systems and their interaction with gut-brain signalling pathways including immune, endocrine, neural and humoral routes are described. The effects of microbiota-targeted interventions such as prebiotics, probiotics and diet on psychological functioning and the putative mediating role of SCFA signalling will also be discussed, as well as the relationship between SCFAs and psychobiological processes. Finally, future directions to facilitate direct investigation of the effect of SCFAs on psychological functioning are outlined.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.