Intestinal serotonin and fluoxetine exposure modulate bacterial colonization in the gut.

ABSTRACT: The gut microbiota regulates levels of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) in the intestinal epithelium and lumen^1-5. However, whether 5-HT plays a functional role in bacteria from the gut microbiota remains unknown. We demonstrate that elevating levels of intestinal lumenal 5-HT by oral supplementation or genetic deficiency in the host 5-HT transporter (SERT) increases the relative abundance of spore-forming members of the gut microbiota, which were previously reported to promote host 5-HT biosynthesis. Within this microbial community, we identify Turicibacter sanguinis as a gut bacterium that expresses a neurotransmitter sodium symporter-related protein with sequence and structural homology to mammalian SERT. T. sanguinis imports 5-HT through a mechanism that is inhibited b

SUBMITTER: Fung TC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6879823 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature