Abstract #4596

Evidence of a link between brain structure and function and gut permeability: a combined RS-fMRI and DTI investigation of the brain-gut axis in healthy women

Suzanne T Witt¹, Olga Bednarska², Adriane Icenhour^1,2, Sigrid Elsenbruch³, Johan D Söderholm², Maria Engström^1,4, Emeran A Mayer⁵, Åsa Keita², and Susanna Walter^1,2

¹CMIV, Linöping University, Linköping, Sweden, ²Dept. of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, ³Institute of Medical Psychology & Behavioral Immunobiology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, ⁴Dept. of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, ⁵Dept. of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The brain-gut axis is thought to play a key role in the regulation of the gastrointestinal system with overall physical and emotional health. In diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome, dysfunction within brain-gut interactions have been proposed to underlie symptoms of chronic abdominal pain. This study demonstrated that variations in gut mucosal permeability affected both resting-state functional connectivity in the DMN and white matter microstructure properties in healthy adult women. Variations within brain function and structure were apparent even when variations in gut permeability were small and remained within the normal range, indicating that brain-gut interactions may be quite sensitive.

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