Exploring the Gut-Brain Axis: Mechanisms and Implications for Health and Disease
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 859
Special Issue Editor
Interests: neuroinflammation; neurodegenerative diseases; dysbiosis; cancer; gut-brain axis; enteric glia; pain; GPCRs; prokineticins; cardio-oncology and cardiovascular diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Emerging evidence suggests that the intestine plays a pivotal role as a priming site for disease development. Early alterations in gut microbiota, intestinal–neural immune crosstalk and local neuroinflammatory signaling can trigger systemic and neurological dysfunctions. This Special Issue focuses on the intestinal priming exploring how dysbiosis and enteric neuroinflammation initiate or amplify pathogenic cascades that extend beyond the gut to the brain contributing to conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases, mood disorders, metabolic syndromes, cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory pathologies.
We particularly welcome studies that dissect the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying microbiota-driven modulation of gut–brain communication.
By integrating molecular and translational perspectives, this Special Issue aims to promote the understanding of how intestinal homeostasis disruption may act as an early driver of multifactorial diseases.
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Mechanistic links between microbiota alterations and neuroinflammatory pathways;
- Intestinal priming as responsible for onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases, mood disorders, metabolic syndromes, cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory pathologies;
- Contributions addressing how dietary components, xenobiotics, or microbial metabolites influence signaling pathways, immune responses, and neural activity related to the gut–brain axis;
- Comparative investigations across model organisms that provide mechanistic insights into conserved molecular processes in gut-brain communication;
- Novel microbiome-targeted interventions and biomarkers within a One Health context.
Dr. Martina Vincenzi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- gut–brain axis
- enteric nervous system
- dysbiosis
- gut microbiota
- neuroinflammation
- one health
- microbiota–immune crosstalk
- metabolic syndromes
- cardiovascular diseases
- neurodegenerative diseases
- cancer
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