Herbal Axis™
The human gut, specifically the gut microbiome, is a complex ecosystem with intricate, bidirectional connections to virtually every organ system in the body.
The gut-brain axis
This is a complex communication system between the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord, and the enteric nervous system (ENS), or "second brain," in the gut.
- Neural pathways: The primary link is the vagus nerve, which sends signals about gut conditions directly to the brain and transmits signals from the brain back to the gut. The ENS also has over 500 million neurons and can manage local digestive functions somewhat independently of the CNS.
- Neurotransmitters: The gut microbiome produces and influences neurotransmitters like serotonin (about 90% of the body's supply), GABA, and dopamine, which affect mood, stress, and behavior.
- Microbial metabolites: Gut bacteria produce metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which can cross the blood-brain barrier and influence brain function, including memory and anxiety.
- Involvement in disease: A dysfunctional gut-brain axis is linked to conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The gut-liver axis
This is a bidirectional relationship involving the gut, the gut microbiota, and the liver.
- Communication routes: The main pathways are the portal vein, which carries nutrients and microbial products from the gut to the liver, and the bile ducts, which transport bile and its metabolites from the liver to the gut.
- Microbial metabolites: Gut microbes produce metabolites such as SCFAs and bile acids. In a healthy state, these promote liver health. In dysbiosis, harmful byproducts like lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can damage the liver.
- Intestinal barrier: The gut barrier prevents bacteria and toxins from entering the bloodstream. If compromised (a "leaky gut"), harmful substances can translocate to the liver via the portal vein, causing inflammation and exacerbating liver diseases.
- Involvement in disease: Imbalances in this axis are implicated in conditions like fatty liver disease (MASLD and ALD) and liver cancer.
The gut-immune system axis
This axis is crucial for training and regulating the immune system, with 70-80% of the body's immune cells located in the gut.
- Microbial education: The gut microbiome educates immune cells, helping them distinguish between harmful and harmless signals.
- Immune tolerance and inflammation: The microbiome helps maintain immune homeostasis. Dysbiosis can trigger an inflammatory response that extends throughout the body.
- Mediators: The gut-immune axis communicates via cytokines, microbial metabolites, and immune cells that travel through circulation to other organs.
- Involvement in disease: Dysfunction in this axis is associated with autoimmune disorders, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and a range of inflammatory and infectious diseases.
The gut-cardiovascular axis
The gut and its microbiome significantly influence heart and vascular health.
- Microbial metabolites: Gut bacteria produce metabolites like trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) from dietary nutrients like carnitine (in red meat) and choline (in eggs). High levels of TMAO are associated with atherosclerosis, blood vessel damage, and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
- Inflammation: A leaky gut caused by dysbiosis allows microbial products to enter the bloodstream, triggering systemic inflammation that promotes plaque formation and endothelial dysfunction.
- Blood pressure regulation: Gut-produced SCFAs have anti-inflammatory effects and may influence blood pressure regulation.
- Involvement in disease: Imbalances in this axis are linked to cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart failure.
The gut-kidney axis
The kidney and gut share a reciprocal relationship, with dysfunction in one affecting the other.
- Metabolite accumulation: In chronic kidney disease (CKD), the gut microbiota is altered, leading to an overproduction of uremic toxins from protein fermentation. These toxins, such as indoxyl sulfate and p-cresyl sulfate, accumulate in the bloodstream and further impair kidney function.
- Gut barrier dysfunction: Uremia and a high-toxin environment increase intestinal permeability (leaky gut), allowing endotoxins to enter circulation and cause systemic inflammation, which worsens kidney damage.
- Involvement in disease: This axis is a key factor in the progression of CKD and its associated complications, including cardiovascular disease.
The gut-lung axis
This bidirectional communication pathway links the gut microbiome and lung health.
- Immune cell trafficking: The gut microbiome influences the development and maturation of immune cells that travel to the lungs, affecting the severity of allergic inflammation, asthma, and other respiratory conditions.
- Microbial metabolites: Microbial metabolites from the gut, such as SCFAs, can enter systemic circulation and modulate the immune response in the lungs.
- Microbial translocation: In severe lung infections or sepsis, there can be a translocation of microbes from the gut to the lungs.
- Involvement in disease: Imbalances in this axis are linked to diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF), and susceptibility to viral infections like influenza.
The gut-skin axis
The gut microbiome influences skin health through communication involving the immune system and metabolites.
- Metabolites: Microbial metabolites can be absorbed into circulation and affect skin hydration, inflammation, and cellular processes.
- Inflammation: A dysfunctional gut barrier can lead to systemic inflammation, which is a driver of inflammatory skin conditions.
- Involvement in disease: Conditions such as psoriasis, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis (eczema) have been linked to an imbalance in the gut microbiome.
The gut-endocrine axis
This axis involves the bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the body's hormonal systems.
- Hormone modulation: Gut microbes influence hormones related to stress (like cortisol through the HPA axis), appetite (like ghrelin), and metabolic function.
- Nutrient and hormone interactions: Microbes produce metabolites and neurotransmitters that interact with gut endocrine cells, influencing the release of hormones that regulate digestion, appetite, and metabolism.
- Involvement in disease: Dysregulation of this axis is linked to metabolic disorders, obesity, and stress-related conditions.
The human gut, specifically the gut microbiome, is a complex ecosystem with intricate, bidirectional connections to virtually every organ system in the body. These communication pathways, often referred to as "axes," use neural, endocrine, and immune signaling to influence health and disease.The gut-brain axisThis is a complex communication system between the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord, and the enteric nervous system (ENS), or "second brain," in the gut.
- Neural pathways: The primary link is the vagus nerve, which sends signals about gut conditions directly to the brain and transmits signals from the brain back to the gut. The ENS also has over 500 million neurons and can manage local digestive functions somewhat independently of the CNS.
- Neurotransmitters: The gut microbiome produces and influences neurotransmitters like serotonin (about 90% of the body's supply), GABA, and dopamine, which affect mood, stress, and behavior.
- Microbial metabolites: Gut bacteria produce metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which can cross the blood-brain barrier and influence brain function, including memory and anxiety.
- Involvement in disease: A dysfunctional gut-brain axis is linked to conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The gut-liver axisThis is a bidirectional relationship involving the gut, the gut microbiota, and the liver.- Communication routes: The main pathways are the portal vein, which carries nutrients and microbial products from the gut to the liver, and the bile ducts, which transport bile and its metabolites from the liver to the gut.
- Microbial metabolites: Gut microbes produce metabolites such as SCFAs and bile acids. In a healthy state, these promote liver health. In dysbiosis, harmful byproducts like lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can damage the liver.
- Intestinal barrier: The gut barrier prevents bacteria and toxins from entering the bloodstream. If compromised (a "leaky gut"), harmful substances can translocate to the liver via the portal vein, causing inflammation and exacerbating liver diseases.
- Involvement in disease: Imbalances in this axis are implicated in conditions like fatty liver disease (MASLD and ALD) and liver cancer.
The gut-immune system axisThis axis is crucial for training and regulating the immune system, with 70-80% of the body's immune cells located in the gut.- Microbial education: The gut microbiome educates immune cells, helping them distinguish between harmful and harmless signals.
- Immune tolerance and inflammation: The microbiome helps maintain immune homeostasis. Dysbiosis can trigger an inflammatory response that extends throughout the body.
- Mediators: The gut-immune axis communicates via cytokines, microbial metabolites, and immune cells that travel through circulation to other organs.
- Involvement in disease: Dysfunction in this axis is associated with autoimmune disorders, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and a range of inflammatory and infectious diseases.
The gut-cardiovascular axisThe gut and its microbiome significantly influence heart and vascular health.- Microbial metabolites: Gut bacteria produce metabolites like trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) from dietary nutrients like carnitine (in red meat) and choline (in eggs). High levels of TMAO are associated with atherosclerosis, blood vessel damage, and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
- Inflammation: A leaky gut caused by dysbiosis allows microbial products to enter the bloodstream, triggering systemic inflammation that promotes plaque formation and endothelial dysfunction.
- Blood pressure regulation: Gut-produced SCFAs have anti-inflammatory effects and may influence blood pressure regulation.
- Involvement in disease: Imbalances in this axis are linked to cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart failure.
The gut-kidney axisThe kidney and gut share a reciprocal relationship, with dysfunction in one affecting the other.- Metabolite accumulation: In chronic kidney disease (CKD), the gut microbiota is altered, leading to an overproduction of uremic toxins from protein fermentation. These toxins, such as indoxyl sulfate and p-cresyl sulfate, accumulate in the bloodstream and further impair kidney function.
- Gut barrier dysfunction: Uremia and a high-toxin environment increase intestinal permeability (leaky gut), allowing endotoxins to enter circulation and cause systemic inflammation, which worsens kidney damage.
- Involvement in disease: This axis is a key factor in the progression of CKD and its associated complications, including cardiovascular disease.
The gut-lung axisThis bidirectional communication pathway links the gut microbiome and lung health.- Immune cell trafficking: The gut microbiome influences the development and maturation of immune cells that travel to the lungs, affecting the severity of allergic inflammation, asthma, and other respiratory conditions.
- Microbial metabolites: Microbial metabolites from the gut, such as SCFAs, can enter systemic circulation and modulate the immune response in the lungs.
- Microbial translocation: In severe lung infections or sepsis, there can be a translocation of microbes from the gut to the lungs.
- Involvement in disease: Imbalances in this axis are linked to diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF), and susceptibility to viral infections like influenza.
The gut-skin axisThe gut microbiome influences skin health through communication involving the immune system and metabolites.- Metabolites: Microbial metabolites can be absorbed into circulation and affect skin hydration, inflammation, and cellular processes.
- Inflammation: A dysfunctional gut barrier can lead to systemic inflammation, which is a driver of inflammatory skin conditions.
- Involvement in disease: Conditions such as psoriasis, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis (eczema) have been linked to an imbalance in the gut microbiome.
The gut-endocrine axisThis axis involves the bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the body's hormonal systems.- Hormone modulation: Gut microbes influence hormones related to stress (like cortisol through the HPA axis), appetite (like ghrelin), and metabolic function.
- Nutrient and hormone interactions: Microbes produce metabolites and neurotransmitters that interact with gut endocrine cells, influencing the release of hormones that regulate digestion, appetite, and metabolism.
- Involvement in disease: Dysregulation of this axis is linked to metabolic disorders, obesity, and stress-related conditions.
