ReviewCureus2025
Estrogen-Gut-Brain Axis: Examining the Role of Combined Oral Contraceptives on Mental Health Through Their Impact on the Gut Microbiome.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Fructooligosaccharide ameliorates inflammation-induced chronic pain via deactivation of LPS/TLR-4/NF-κB p65/TNF-α/IL-6 pathway in estrogen-deficient rats.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Article
- Bidirectional Communication of Estrogen in Gut-Brain Axis: Evidence from Preclinical and Clinical Studies.Current drug targets · 2026Review
- Sex hormones and functional gastrointestinal disorders in menopausal women.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Review
- The estrogen-brain interface in neuroinflammation: a multidimensional mechanistic insight.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) possess the ability to alter the normal composition of the gut microbiome and the permeability of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which may cause both gut-related and non-gut-related complications. The gut-estrogen axis examines the relationship between estrogens (particularly the active form, estradiol) and the gastrointestinal system and can be attributed to the maintenance of the estrobolome and circulating estradiol levels. The gut-brain axis involves the relationship between the brain and the gastrointestinal system and can be attributed to the gut microbiome in relation to the enteric nervous system (ENS) and serotonin levels. Overall, the introduction of exogenous hormones into an endogenous environment alters the normal balance of both hormones and bacteria. Currently, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the link between COCs and mental health complications such as anxiety and depression, and the diversity in these complications may be related to different types of COCs, their composition, and variations in study populations. This article reviews existing evidence from animal and human studies on the role of COCs in the development of mental health issues through their impact on the gut microbiome.
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.