The importance of the gut-brain axis in maintaining homeostasis has long been appreciated. However, the past 15 yr have seen the emergence of the microbiota (the trillions of microorganisms within and on our bodies) as one of the key regulators of gut-brain function and has led to the appreciation of the importance of a distinct microbiota-gut-brain axis. This axis is gaining ever more traction in fields investigating the biological and physiological basis of psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, age-related, and neurodegenerative disorders. The microbiota and the brain communicate with each other via various routes including the immune system, tryptophan metabolism, the vagus nerve and the enteric nervous system, involving microbial metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, branched chain amino acids, and peptidoglycans. Many factors can influence microbiota composition in early life, including infection, mode of birth delivery, use of antibiotic medications, the nature of nutritional provision, environmental stressors, and host genetics. At the other extreme of life, microbial diversity diminishes with aging. Stress, in particular, can significantly impact the microbiota-gut-brain axis at all stages of life. Much recent work has implicated the gut microbiota in many conditions including autism, anxiety, obesity, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Animal models have been paramount in linking the regulation of fundamental neural processes, such as neurogenesis and myelination, to microbiome activation of microglia. Moreover, translational human studies are ongoing and will greatly enhance the field. Future studies will focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying the microbiota-gut-brain axis and attempt to elucidate microbial-based intervention and therapeutic strategies for neuropsychiatric disorders.

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There is a growing recognition of the involvement of the gastrointestinal microbiota in the regulation of physiology and behaviour. Microbiota-derived metabolites play a central role in the communication between microbes and their host, with short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) being perhaps the most studied. SCFAs are primarily derived from fermentation of dietary fibres and play a pivotal role in host gut, metabolic and immune function. All these factors have previously been demonstrated to be adversely affected by stress. Therefore, we sought to assess whether SCFA supplementation could counteract the enduring effects of chronic psychosocial stress. C57BL/6J male mice received oral supplementation of a mixture of the three principle SCFAs (acetate, propionate and butyrate). One week later, mice underwent 3 weeks of repeated psychosocial stress, followed by a comprehensive behavioural analysis. Finally, plasma corticosterone, faecal SCFAs and caecal microbiota composition were assessed. SCFA treatment alleviated psychosocial stress-induced alterations in reward-seeking behaviour, and increased responsiveness to an acute stressor and in vivo intestinal permeability. In addition, SCFAs exhibited behavioural test-specific antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, which were not present when mice had also undergone psychosocial stress. Stress-induced increases in body weight gain, faecal SCFAs and the colonic gene expression of the SCFA receptors free fatty acid receptors 2 and 3 remained unaffected by SCFA supplementation. Moreover, there were no collateral effects on caecal microbiota composition. Taken together, these data show that SCFA supplementation alleviates selective and enduring alterations induced by repeated psychosocial stress and these data may inform future research into microbiota-targeted therapies for stress-related disorders.