REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Neuropharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1578018
This article is part of the Research TopicResearch on Precision Prevention and Treatment of Neurological and Neurodegenerative DiseasesView all 7 articles
The Role of the Tryptophan Metabolites in Gut Microbiota-Brain Axis and Potential Treatments: A Focus on Ischemic Stroke
Provisionally accepted
- 1Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
- 2China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
- 3Qingdao Women and Children's Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
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Gut microbiota disturbances can elevate the risk of stroke by contributing to cerebrovascular events.Particularly, the gut tryptophan (TRP) metabolite is an essential mediator of the gut-brain axis. This review highlights the role of TRP metabolism in stroke, the influence of intestinal microbiomes on stroke pathology via TRP metabolism, and the gut-brain axis interactions. Recent studies indicate that various bioactive molecules produced via TRP metabolism can regulate various neurological functions and interrupt stroke pathophysiology. Moreover, the relationship between gut TRP metabolism and stroke development has been verified. TRP metabolism involves three pathways: kynurenine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and indole, which potentially regulate post-stroke, may function as aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists to modify neuronal excitotoxicity, and offer crucial targets for stroke treatment. This suggests that modulating TRP metabolite levels through various methods can enhance the prognosis of central nervous system diseases and restore microbiota-gut-brain axis functions.
Keywords: tryptophan metabolites, gut microbiota, microbiota-gut-brain axis, ischemic stroke, kynurenine Abbreviations TRP, Tryptophan, 5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine, AhR, aryl hydrocarbon receptor, KYN, kynurenine, IDO1, Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1, TDO, Trp-2,3-dioxygenase, 5-HTP, 5-hydroxytryptophan, KYNA, Kynurenic acid
Received: 17 Feb 2025; Accepted: 06 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Wang and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ting Zhu, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
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