Link between hormones and gut bacteria may guide better treatment of menopause symptoms

Menopause marks the end of female fertility, but it also brings a host of other — and often confusing — changes, from weight gain to brain fog

Scientists at Arizona State University have found that hormones and gut bacteria interact to cause changes in metabolism and brain function

The researchers recently published their findings in Frontiers in Cell and Infection Microbiology

Menopause is when a woman stops menstruating and is no longer pregnant

In their study, researchers Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and Heather Bimonte-Nelson, along with their Arizona State University team and Mayo Clinic collaborators Anita Mayer and Julia Files, looked at how menopause and estrogen supplementation affect the effects of menopause and estrogen supplementation in animal models.

They found that while untreated menopause can lead to weight gain, high- and low-dose estrogen therapy helps prevent weight gain

Another important finding is that menopause changes the bacterial community in the gut, known as the microbiome

"Our study found a unique relationship between gut composition and cognition in women, which appears to depend on hormonal status

"Altered microbiota can have broad implications for animal behavior and health

Postmenopausal estrogen therapy improves microbiota health and helps correct some, though not all, of these changes

“Chemicals interact with microbes in two different ways

She explained that this relationship is important for the health of the entire body

"What happens in the gut doesn't stay in the gut,

This study suggests avenues for future research

"I believe this work opens the door to many exciting future discoveries about the effects of menopause and the gut microbiome on the brain and body during aging," said co-author of the paper, Arizona State University Evolution and said Stephanie Koebele, a postdoctoral researcher at the medical center

Learning more about the microbiome and its relationship to the rest of the body could provide clinicians with new tools to improve health, especially for women

"There is still a lot of experimentation to be done and a lot to discover about the connections between the gut, endocrine system and brain function
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Our team is keen to work together to unravel these relationships and ultimately enrich women's lives throughout their lives.
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For example, one type of bacteria may play an important role in the production and distribution of estrogen
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Adding or cultivating this bacteria with vitamins, prebiotics or probiotics can provide another option for hormone therapy
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The potential use of this therapy extends well beyond menopause
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"Understanding what these microbes do, and how they alter gut chemistry and what gets into the brain, could lead to other treatments than just increasing estrogen," Krajmalnik-Brown said
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