The Blood-Brain Barrier as an Integration Hub in Alzheimer's Disease: How Microbiota Metabolites Modulate Central Signal Processing.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While both gut-brain axis dysfunction and blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown are documented in Alzheimer's disease (AD), current research treats these as separate phenomena. However, emerging evidence suggests that the BBB may function as an active integration interface that processes microbiota-derived metabolites and thereby potentially modulates how peripheral signals influence cognitive health.

Objective

This review synthesizes current evidence on microbiota metabolites as modulators of BBB integration capacity, discussing how such mechanisms may contribute to variability in cognitive outcomes despite similar gut microbiome profiles by demonstrating how BBB signal-integration mechanisms determine gut-brain communication effectiveness in AD.

Methods

We

SUBMITTER: Giangiulio O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12703014 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature