Diagnostic Value of Short-chain Fatty Acids in Psychoneurology and Methodological Aspects of Quantitative Assessment

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system, also known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis, plays a key role in brain development and function. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), as one of the main microbial metabolites, have a broad multifactorial effect on many physiological and pathophysiological processes in the body, including the central nervous system. It is known that there are correlations between the phenotype of patients with a nervous system disorder and the SCFAs profile. Currently, the most informative and reliable method for the quantitative assessment of SCFAs is gas chromatography (GC), however, such studies of the SCFAs profile in the case of diseases of the nervous system are limited, and until now scientific experience in this area has not been generalized. In this regard, the purpose of this review is to summarize the diagnostic value of SCFAs profile in the case of nervous and mental disorders, as well as to demonstrate the capabilities of gas chromatography for studying the metabolic profile of these diseases.