Alcohol, microbiome, and their effect on psychiatric disorders

This 2018 article discusses the potential roles of alcohol and the microbiome in the occurrence of psychiatric disorders. Alcohol consumption, and alcohol withdrawal, have been associated with the increase of known innate immune signaling molecules in the brain, and thereby with neuroinflammation. The microbiota has been demonstrated to also play a major role in this process. Thus,
Hillemacher et al. explain that the disruption of this communication between the microbiome and the brain may be a significant factor in many psychiatric disorders. Modification in microbiota composition, also referred to as dysbiosis, may result in microbe-host dyshomeostasis and could have detrimental effects. Many pathologies are linked with alterations in the microbiota function and structure in the gut, suggesting a connection between dysbiosis and disease etiology, including irritable bowel syndrome depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and alcoholism. Alcohol-induced changes in the microbiome may elevate the risk of developing psychiatric disorders and may explain reward-seeking behaviors, anxiety, depression, and craving in withdrawal.
[NPID: anxiety, substance use, addiction, drugs, alcohol, microbiome, gut-brain axis, withdrawal, immunity, the immune system, neuroinflammation, dysbiosis]

Year: 2018

Reference: Hillemacher, T., Bachmann, O., Kahl, K. G., & Frieling, H. (2018). Alcohol, microbiome, and their effect on psychiatric disorders. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 85, 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.04.015