ArticleInternational journal of molecular sciences2021
Exploring the Impact of the Microbiome on Neuroactive Steroid Levels in Germ-Free Animals.
Article in International journal of molecular sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Translating microbial dysbiosis into brain health interventions: a focus on the oral-gut-reproductive inflammatory pathways.Archives of microbiology · 2026Review
- Microbial regulation of stress-associated signaling molecules and its role in health and disease.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Review
- The testobolome in microbial testosterone metabolism and human health.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Review
- Microbial modulators of the mind: probiotic interventions in hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive flexibility.Antonie van Leeuwenhoek · 2025Review
- Neurosteroids, Microbiota, and Neuroinflammation: Mechanistic Insights and Therapeutic Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Gut microbiota and the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway in anxiety: new insights and treatment strategies.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2025Review
- The gut-microbiota-brain axis: Focus on gut steroids.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2025Review
- From bugs to brain: unravelling the GABA signalling networks in the brain-gut-microbiome axis.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2025Review
- Inter- and Transgenerational Effects of In Ovo Stimulation with Bioactive Compounds on Cecal Tonsils and Cecal Mucosa Transcriptomes in a Chicken Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Functional Food Nutrients, Redox Resilience Signaling and Neurosteroids for Brain Health.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Can longer lifespan be associated with gut microbiota involvement in lipid metabolism?FEMS microbiology ecology · 2024Article
- Microbiota modulates the steroid response to acute immune stress in male mice.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Article
- Short-term effects of etifoxine on human gut microbiome in healthy men.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Gut Steroids and Microbiota: Effect of Gonadectomy and Sex.Biomolecules · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Steroid hormones are essential biomolecules for human physiology as they modulate the endocrine system, nervous function and behaviour. Recent studies have shown that the gut microbiota is directly involved in the production and metabolism of steroid hormones in the periphery. However, the influence of the gut microbiota on levels of steroids acting and present in the brain (i.e., neuroactive steroids) is not fully understood. Therefore, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we assessed the levels of several neuroactive steroids in various brain areas and the plasma of germ-free (GF) male mice and conventionally colonized controls. The data obtained indicate an increase in allopregnanolone levels associated with a decrease in those of 5α-androstane-3α, 17β-diol (3α-diol) in the plasma of GF mice. Moreover, an increase of dihydroprogesterone and isoallopregnanolone in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex was also reported. Changes in dihydrotestosterone and 3α-diol levels were also observed in the hippocampus of GF mice. In addition, an increase in dehydroepiandrosterone was associated with a decrease in testosterone levels in the hypothalamus of GF mice. Our findings suggest that the absence of microbes affects the neuroactive steroids in the periphery and the brain, supporting the evidence of a microbiota-mediated modulation of neuroendocrine pathways involved in preserving host brain functioning.
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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.