Microbiota and the Gut-Brain Axis in Health and Diesease

The gut and the brain are two separate, but connected, organs. When the gut is dysfunctional, due to microbiota imbalance, it has been shown to manifest as a neurological disorder. Equally, within hours of a traumatic brain injury, the gut is inflamed. When the gut in inflamed, the intestinal barrier breaks allowing for the translocation of microbial antigens into the bloodstream. In response to the microbial or dietary antigens, the immune system produces autoreactive antibodies, which can infiltrate the broken blood-brain barrier and trigger neuroautoimmunity.