The gut-microbiota-brain axis: Focus on gut steroids
Silvia Diviccaro; Silvia Giatti; Lucia Cioffi; Gabriela Chrostek; Roberto Cosimo Melcangi
Journal of Neuroendocrinology2024
Summary (paraphrased)
Beyond the gonads, adrenals, and brain, the gastrointestinal tract itself performs steroidogenesis, producing an extensive repertoire of gut steroids. This review focuses on how those intestinal steroids communicate with the gut microbiota — which functions almost like a virtual endocrine organ — and how the resulting gut-brain signaling influences neuroendocrine and behavioral outcomes. The authors detail bidirectional crosstalk: microbial communities shape steroid metabolism and vice versa. Because finasteride alters both neurosteroid levels and gut microbial composition, this axis is proposed as an underappreciated contributor to persistent post-drug symptoms.
Why it’s in the corpus
From the Melcangi PFS group: the first synthesis centering gut steroids in the microbiota-brain axis — directly extends LIT-D-001's rat microbiota findings into a mechanistic framework for persistent symptoms.
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