Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41340173›Full record

ArticleGut microbes2025

Social bonds and health: exploring the impact of social relations on oxytocin and brain-gut communication in shaping obesity.

Xiaobei Zhang, Tien S Dong, Gilbert C Gee, Lisa A Kilpatrick, Hiram Beltran-Sanchez, May C Wang, Allison Vaughan, Arpana Church

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Gut microbes, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
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.

Xiaobei ZhangG. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0445-7222
Tien S DongG. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0105-8063
Gilbert C GeeDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Lisa A KilpatrickG. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Hiram Beltran-SanchezDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
May C WangDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Allison VaughanG. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Arpana ChurchG. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Funding

Social Isolation and Discrimination as Stressors Influencing Brain-Gut Microbiome Alterations among Filipino and Mexican AmericanR01MD015904 · NIMHD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI CHURCH, ARPANA · 2021 to 2025
$4.1M
Role of Inflammatory Processes in Reward Network Alterations in ObesityK23DK106528 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI CHURCH, ARPANA · 2016 to 2020
$1.0M
Role of the Gut Microbiome in Reward Network Alterations in ObesityR03DK121025 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI CHURCH, ARPANA · 2020 to 2021
$234k
NIDDK NIH HHS K23 DK106528NIDDK NIH HHS R03 DK121025NIMHD NIH HHS R01 MD015904
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Social relationships play a crucial role in shaping health. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, we explored the independent and interactive effects of perceived emotional support (PES) and marital status on body mass index (BMI), eating behaviors, brain reactivity to food images, plasma oxytocin, and alterations in the brain-gut microbiome (BGM) system. Brain responses to food stimuli, fecal metabolites, and plasma oxytocin levels were measured in 94 participants. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the integrated pathways linking social factors to obesity-related outcomes. Marital status and PES interact and independently influence lower BMI, healthier eating behaviors, increased oxytocin levels, food-cue reactivity in frontal brain regions involved in craving inhibition and executive control, and tryptophan-pathway metabolites related to inflammation, immune regulation, and energy homeostasis. These findings suggest that supportive human relationships, particularly high-quality marital bonds, may regulate obesity risk through oxytocin-mediated alterations in brain and gut pathways.

Indexed as

BrainBrain-Gut AxisGastrointestinal MicrobiomeInterpersonal RelationsObesityOxytocinAdultBody Mass IndexFeeding BehaviorFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedYoung AdultOxytocinBrain–gut-microbiomeobesityoxytocinsocial relations

Identifiers

PMID41340173
PMCPMC12688263

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.