Microbes modulate sympathetic neurons via a gut-brain circuit

Abstract

Gut-brain connections monitor the intestinal tissue and its microbial and dietary content ¹ , regulating both intestinal physiological functions such as nutrient absorption and motility ^{2, 3} , and brain–wired feeding behaviour ² . It is therefore plausible that circuits exist to detect gut microbes and relay this information to central nervous system (CNS) areas that, in turn, regulate gut physiology ⁴ . We characterized the influence of the microbiota on enteric–associated neurons (EAN) by combining gnotobiotic mouse models with transcriptomics, circuit–tracing methods, and functional manipulations. We found that the gut microbiome modulates gut–extrinsic sympathetic neurons; while microbiota depletion led to increased cFos expression, colonization of germ-free mice with short-chain fatty acid–producing bacteria suppressed cFos expression in the gut sympathetic ganglia. Chemogenetic manipulations, translational profiling, and anterograde tracing identified a subset of distal intestine-projecting vagal neurons positioned to play an afferent role in microbiota–mediated modulation of gut sympathetic neurons. Retrograde polysynaptic neuronal tracing from the intestinal wall identified brainstem sensory nuclei activated during microbial depletion, as well as efferent sympathetic premotor glutamatergic neurons that regulate gastrointestinal transit. These results reveal microbiota–dependent control of gut extrinsic sympathetic activation through a gut-brain circuit.