High-Fat Diet Drives Gut Bacteria into the Brain in Mice

Gut dysbiosis caused by a high-fat diet can allow bacteria to move from the gut to the brain in mice, according to a new study by David Weiss and Arash Grakoui from Emory University, US, and colleagues published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Researchers fed mice a high-fat diet, which is known to change the composition of the gut microbiome and increase gut permeability. They found that a small number of bacteria translocated from the gut to the brain, likely via the vagus nerve. When mice were returned to a normal diet, the bacteria in the brain disappeared.

Visit: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003652