ReviewCureus2026
The Gut-Brain-Immune Axis: Role of Microbiota Dysbiosis and Autonomic Nervous System in Infectious Diseases.
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The human gastrointestinal tract harbors a complex microbial ecosystem that plays a fundamental role in maintaining immune balance and defending against infectious diseases. Disruption of this ecosystem, known as dysbiosis, has been increasingly associated with impaired immune responses and heightened susceptibility to infections. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of the gut-brain-immune axis, particularly the role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), in regulating these interactions. This systematic review aimed to examine the relationship between gut microbiota dysbiosis and infectious diseases, with specific emphasis on the influence of autonomic dysfunction on disease susceptibility and outcomes. A comprehensive search of PubMed/Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Scopus, and Google Scholar was conducted to identify relevant observational studies published between 2000 and 2025. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed using standardized tools, including the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). A total of 11 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. The included studies consistently demonstrated that dysbiosis is associated with reduced microbial diversity and loss of beneficial taxa, which in turn were linked to increased infection risk and disease severity. Additionally, autonomic imbalance, reflected by increased sympathetic activity and reduced parasympathetic (vagal) tone, was frequently associated with impaired immune regulation. Reduced heart rate variability was commonly reported, suggesting a potential link between microbial alterations and neuroimmune dysfunction. Overall, the findings suggest that gut microbiota dysbiosis may be associated with infectious disease outcomes, with ANS dysfunction acting as a potential modulatory pathway. These findings should be interpreted with caution, as the included studies are predominantly observational and mechanistic. The results are therefore hypothesis-generating rather than practice-changing, and further high-quality studies are required to establish causal relationships.
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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.