Do Gut Bugs Put the Brakes on Myelination?

Microbe-free mice have hypermyelination of the prefrontal cortex. Gut bacteria may play a role in regulating myelination in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), researchers reported here. Microbe-free mice had greater expression of myelin-related genes and hypermyelination in the PFC compared with control animals, Alan Hoban, PhD, of University College Cork in Ireland, and colleagues presented at a poster session at the Society for Neuroscience meeting here. Advertisement "These animals have no microbiota, so it could be that a lack of signals from the gut aren't check-pointing oligodendrocytes, since we saw with the hypermyelinated fibers was they had so many more wraps of myelin," Hoban told MedPage Today. "That means the oligodendrocytes may be excessively turning, and whatever is missing from the gut signaling to the brain is not telling them to stop -- but that's a very broad interpretation," he cautioned. http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/SFN/54276?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2015-10-26&eun=g721819d0r