Cited by 167Gut microbiota and healthGastrointestinal motility and disordersAdipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases

Gut microbiota interacts with brain microstructure and function

Fernandez-Real, José-Manuel, Serino, Matteo, Blasco, Gerard, Puig, Josep, Daunis-i-Estadella, Josep, Ricart, Wifredo, Burcelin, Remy, Fernández-Aranda, Fernando +1 more·2015·The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Abstract

CONTEXT: Evidence from animals suggests that gut microbiota affects brain structure and function but evidence in humans is scarce. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to evaluate potential interactions among gut microbiota composition, brain microstructure, and cognitive tests in obese and nonobese subjects. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a cross-sectional study at a tertiary hospital including 20 consecutive obese and 19 nonobese subjects similar in age and sex. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gut microbiota (16S bacterial gene pyrosequencing), brain microstructure (diffusion tensor imaging of brain white and gray matter and R2* sequences in magnetic resonance imaging) and cognitive tests. RESULTS: Hierarchical clustering revealed a specific gut microbiota-brain map profile for obese individuals who could be discriminated from nonobese subjects (accuracy of 0.81). Strikingly, Shannon index was linked to R2* and fractional anisotropy of the hypothalamus, caudate nucleus, and hippocampus, suggesting sparing of these brain structures with increased bacterial biodiversity. Microbiota profile also clustered with cognitive function. The relative abundance of Actinobacteria phylum was linked not only to magnetic resonance imaging diffusion tensor imaging variables in the thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala but also to cognitive test scores related to speed, attention, and cognitive flexibility. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, obesity status affects microbiota-brain microstructure and function crosstalk.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1210/jc.2015-3076

Cites

32 of 32 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Obesity affects microbiota composition and subsequent cognitive performance.

    “suggesting that obesity affects the microbiota composition and subsequent cognitive performance”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Fernandez-Real et al., 2015

  • In a study of non-obese and obese individuals, gut microbiota composition was found to be associated with scores of cognitive speed, attention, and flexibility, along with significant changes in neural activity in specific brain regions (thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala).

    “In a study of non-obese and obese individuals, GM composition was found to be associated with scores of cognitive speed, attention, and flexibility, along with significant changes in neural activity in specific brain regions (thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala) (481).”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Fernandez-Real, J.-M., Serino, M., Blasco, G., Puig, J., Daunis-i-Estadella, J., Ricart, W., Burcelin, R., Fernández-Aranda, F., & Portero-Otin, M.
Affiliations
  • Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Nutrition (J.-M.F.-R., W.R.), Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Girona, CIBER de la Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición (CIBERobn, CB06/03/0010) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Girona, 17007 Spain
  • Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (M.S., R.B.), Toulouse, France
  • Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Girona (ES)
  • Department of Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics (J.D.-E.), University of Girona, Girona, 17071 Spain
  • Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
  • Department of Psychiatry (F.F.-A.), University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, CIBERobn, Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, 08908 Spain
  • Nutren Group, Department of Experimental Medicine (M.P.-O.), PCiTAL-IRBLleida-Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, 25198 Spain
Venue
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Published
2015-12-01
Volume
100
Issue
12
Pages
4505-4513
ISSN
  • 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-7197
OpenAlex
W2188252631
Cited by
167
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 7
FWCI
4.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
Keywords
gut microbiota, obesity, brain microstructure, cognitive function, microbiota-brain axis, white matter integrity, gray matter, hypothalamus, hippocampus, caudate nucleus, actinobacteria, R2* relaxation, fractional anisotropy, bacterial diversity, cognitive flexibility, attention
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Attention, Body Composition, Brain, Cognition, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Obesity, Reaction Time, Actinobacteria, Biodiversity, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Microbiota

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review