ArticleNature microbiology2025
Nasal Staphylococcus aureus carriage promotes depressive behaviour in mice via sex hormone degradation.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Anti-Androgenic Potential of Plant Extracts: Molecular Mechanisms, Synergistic Effects, and Nutritional Interventions.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Metformin improves chronic rhinosinusitis with depressive-like behavior in mice by targeting TCF4 to inhibit the TLR4/NF-κB pathway.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Intranasal administration in modulating depressive-like behavior and reconstructing treatment paradigms through neuroinflammation and neurotrophic pathways.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Review
- Skin androgens regulate Staphylococcus aureus pathogenicity via quorum sensing.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- 5-HT2C receptors in the glutamatergic neurons of dorsal raphe nucleus orchestrate the comorbidity of pain and anxiety in mice.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Micro/Nanoparticles in the Nose-Brain Axis: Implications for Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Interventions.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- Airway sensory systems: breathing new life into microbiota-brain communication.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
22 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The human microbiome has a pronounced impact on human physiology and behaviour. Despite its unique anatomical connection to the brain, the role of the nasal microbiome in neurological diseases is understudied. Here, using human data and experiments in mice, we show that nasal Staphylococcus aureus is linked to depression. Nasal microbiome analyses revealed a positive correlation between depression scores and S. aureus abundance among patients with depression and healthy controls. Metabolomics of the nasal cavity showed decreased sex hormones, estradiol and testosterone in patients with depression versus controls. Nasal microbiota transplants from patients reproduced depression-like behaviour in mice with differential abundance of S. aureus. Further homology and mutational analysis uncovered an S. aureus sex hormone-degrading enzyme, 17b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (Hsd12), which degraded testosterone and estradiol in mice, leading to lower levels of dopamine and serotonin in the murine brain. These findings reveal a nasal commensal that influences depressive behaviour and provides insights into the nose-brain axis.
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