Microbial endocrinology represents a newly emerging interdisciplinary field that is formed by the intersection of the fields of neurobiology and microbiology. This book will introduce a new perspective to the current understanding not only of the factors that mediate the ability of microbes to cause disease, but also to the mechanisms that maintain normal homeostasis. The discovery that microbes can directly respond to neuroendocrine hormones, as evidenced by increased growth and production of virulence-associated factors, provides for a new framework with which to investigate how microorganisms interface not only with vertebrates, but also with invertebrates and even plants. The reader will learn that the neuroendocrine hormones that one most commonly associates with mammals are actually found throughout the plant, insect and microbial communities to an extent that will undoubtedly surprise many, and most importantly, how interactions between microbes and neuroendocrine hormones can influence the pathophysiology of infectious disease.

Interest in the mind-body connection has grown in recent years, with accumulating evidence showing that the gut microbiome can alter behavioral, neural, and psychological outcomes. This publication brings together a group of international experts who are investigating the microbiome and its potential to contribute to the causes and treatment of mental illness. The contributions are not aimed solely at specialists in clinical and experimental neuroscience. They cover a range of key topics, including the role of the microbiome in mental health and specific psychiatric disorders that occur across the lifespan, interactions with the immune system, diet, and pharmacological interventions. Furthermore, the microbial metabolite production and the potential for psychobiotic interventions that target the microbiome to improve mental health outcomes are discussed. This book is unique in its focus on the mechanisms and consequences of the activities of gut microorganisms in mental health and illness, providing expert insight into the current state of the art and important future directions for this emerging area of research. Additionally, it provides an excellent knowledge base for newcomers and a refresher for researchers and clinicians working in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, or psychiatry.

In this book the recent advancements in understanding the gut-brain interaction as well as gut microbiome and how this interaction plays a vital role in human health and disease are discussed. Each chapter gives an analysis of questions, research directions, and methods within the field of gut-brain axis. The readers will benefit from the latest knowledge about our understanding about how gut-brain axis and modulation of gut microbiome determines predisposition to neurological disorders. The multidisciplinary book is essential reading for anyone interested in the field of gut-brain axis and gut microbiome: from undergraduates to graduate students as well as scientists and physicians having an interest in the new exciting field of gut microbiome and its relationship with brain function.

This edited volume studies gut microbiota peculiarities in elderly, in senescence-related and environmental-related alterations of gut microbiota in chronic diseases. Aging, as a physiological process mediated through several regulatory pathways and transcription factors, is generally speaking associated to a relentless functional decline and increasing risk of chronic diseases. Growing data on gut microbiota quali-quantitative changes in aging gut, and the opportunity to study by advanced NGS and metabolomic technologies, now offers novel horizons to link such changes to disease risks and to theoretically the weapons for gut microbiota intervention as an effective therapeutic tool. Chapters are divided into clear sections, starting with the aging perspective, then moving from chronic diseases to neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The final parts focusses on interventions. Contributors are well-reputed and dedicated scientists in clinics and experimental medicine from 4 different continents who have provided their contribution keeping the polar star on aging as a guide while investigating their gut microbiota in occurrence and progression of disease together with proposed preventing, monitoring and therapeutic interventions. In the wide offer of books on gut microbiota, this age-thematic volume will be a valuable source of updated information for a wide group of readership including gerontologists, geriatricians, medical specialists of several fields, PhDs, basic scientists and public/private research entities focused on potential intervention in and through gut ecosystem. This book will stimulate a large number of basic scientists and clinicians to review their once organ (or cellular line)-specific knowledge and widen either their pathophysiological mechanisms understanding while providing novel ways to prevent, monitor and treat diseases from eyes to bones.

This book provides an overview of bidirectional communication between gut-microbiome-brain, pathways, nutrients, and metabolites that are involved in microbiota gut-brain axis (MGBA) interactions. Further it reviews the relevance of this axis in the neurological disorders and potential therapeutic interventions, involving gut microbiome or probiotics and prebiotics which can ameliorate the neurological disorders. The book examines the role of gut microbiota in the establishment and hemostasis of innate immune response and explores the possibility of development of microbiome-targeted therapeutic interventions. Notably, the book discusses the role of the gut microbiota and immune system on the maintenance of brain functions and the development of neurological disorders. It also highlights the recent advances in improving neurological diseases by phytochemicals, prebiotics and probiotics. This book is useful for researchers working in neuropharmacology, Clinical Research, toxicology, neurodegeneration, and stroke biology.

The progressive ageing of the general population and the consequent increase of the number of old people has made the typical medical problems of aged people more frequently observed, and particularly the problems related to the ageing brain. This new book is an updated overview of relevant aspects of cognitive decline associated with ageing. Within the wide landscape of brain ageing the authors reconsider the role of the main predisposing factors and risk factors on the development of various form of mental decline, from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. The strength of this book is the large, updated overview of the most recent data of scientific literature regarding the role of genetic, metabolic and environmental factors on the predisposition and onset of cognitive decline. Particular attention is paid to the dietary micro- and macronutrients and to their possible role in the pathogenesis of the various form of dementigen disorders.