Stress hormone may be ‘middle man’ in gut-brain communication

The stress hormone cortisol appears to mediate the link between a common type of gut bacteria and the levels of an abundant brain metabolite, according to a recent animal study in Gut Microbes. The relationship between the abundancy of the bacterial genus Ruminococcus and brain concentration of the metabolite n-acetylaspartate (NAA)was found to be mediated by cortisol. The findings of the study in piglets, may have implications for the study of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, suggested the research team from the University of Illinois, Urbana.