ReviewVeterinary medicine and science2026
Targeting the Gut-Brain Axis: Pharmacological Modulation of the Microbiome for Neurological and Behavioural Disorders in Companion Animals.
Review in Veterinary medicine and science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe gut-brain axis (GBA) represents a paradigm shift in veterinary neuropharmacology, offering novel approaches for managing neurological and behavioural disorders in companion animals.
objectivesThis review synthesizes current evidence on the bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system, examining the neural, endocrine, immune, and metabolic pathways that facilitate this dialogue. We explore the unique aspects of canine and feline microbiomes and their implications for species-specific drug development and critically evaluate emerging pharmacological strategies, including psychobiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics and faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), highlighting their clinical applications in conditions ranging from anxiety and aggression to cognitive dysfunction and epilepsy.
methodsThis narrative review followed established guidelines for evidence synthesis in veterinary medicine. A comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus databases covering publications from January 2011 to March 2026.
resultsWhile promising results have been demonstrated with specific strains, such as Bifidobacterium longum BL999 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum PS128, significant challenges remain. These include methodological limitations in microbiome research, the predominance of correlative over causal evidence and the need for standardized diagnostic tools.
conclusionsFuture directions must prioritize large-scale longitudinal studies, robust clinical trials and advanced multi-omics approaches to establish causal mechanisms and develop personalized, microbiome-targeted therapies. Realizing this potential requires a shift from correlative data to causal mechanisms, from a one-size-fits-all approach to species-specific therapeutics and from rodent models to rigorous trials in dogs and cats.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.