90% of our brain neurotransmitters come from the gut
10月
21日
Norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), dopamine (DA), and serotonin play roles in the gut physiology and the nervous system. "These neurotransmitters affect gut motility, nutrient absorption, gastrointestinal innate immune system, and the microbiome," according to a September 2017 Journal of Cellular Physiology article (see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5772764/ ).
Research has shown that manipulation of catecholamine serum concentrations can help in decreasing symptomology and/or disease progression in Parkinson's disease and gut related diseases such as bowel diseases. Catecholamines and serotonin dysfunction in the gastrointestinal system could result in impairments in brain function, such as mood, sleep, and behavior, according to the above report. Norepinephrine and epinephrine are known as the “fight or flight” catecholamines while dopamine is a central acting catecholamine. Norepinephrine and epinephrine involve numerous neural pathways such as reward pathway. Dopamine is commonly associated with the ‘pleasure system’ of the brain.
90% of the well known serotonin neurotransmitter is made in the body’s digestive tract, according to a 2015 report by CalTech (April 09, 2015, “Microbes Help Produce Serotonin in Gut”, http://m.caltech.edu/news/microbes-help-produce-serotonin-gut-46495).
Research going on the influence of gut microbiomes about everything from autism, multiple sclerosis, and brain health to cancer, diseases such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and weight loss have become widespread as major research institutions and universities are conducting studies on the subject.
"More and more studies are showing that mice or other model organisms with changes in their gut microbes exhibit altered behaviors," explains Elaine Hsiao, CalTech research assistant professor of biology and biological engineering.
Researchers are constantly learning more and more how bacteria keep us healthy, and what bacterial changes make us prone to disease, and which diseases. In the future, research could lead us to treat diseases by harnessing and stimulating the activities of more and more naturally occurring microbes.
“We knew that bugs make molecules that enable them to communicate,” adds Hsiao. These communicators in the gut constantly send and receive messages to and from the brain. Hsiao found that areas with large concentrations of serotonin in the gut were rich with enterochromaffin (EC) cells.
Scientists have found that differences in a person’s gut can be a clue to our specific health propensities, but also something as immediate as our daily mood and behaviors.
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