Epilepsy, gut microbiota, and circadian rhythm

Yao Wang; Zhihong Zhuo; Huaili Wang

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1157358

Epilepsy, gut microbiota, and circadian rhythm

Front Neurol. 2023 May 18:14:1157358. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1157358. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yao Wang¹, Zhihong Zhuo^{1

2

3}, Huaili Wang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
² Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Childhood Epilepsy and Immunology, Zhengzhou, China.
³ Henan Provincial Children's Neurological Disease Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Zhengzhou, China.

Abstract

In recent years, relevant studies have found changes in gut microbiota (GM) in patients with epilepsy. In addition, impaired sleep and circadian patterns are common symptoms of epilepsy. Moreover, the types of seizures have a circadian rhythm. Numerous reports have indicated that the GM and its metabolites have circadian rhythms. This review will describe changes in the GM in clinical and animal studies under epilepsy and circadian rhythm disorder, respectively. The aim is to determine the commonalities and specificities of alterations in GM and their impact on disease occurrence in the context of epilepsy and circadian disruption. Although clinical studies are influenced by many factors, the results suggest that there are some commonalities in the changes of GM. Finally, we discuss the links among epilepsy, gut microbiome, and circadian rhythms, as well as future research that needs to be conducted.

Keywords: circadian rhythm; epilepsy; gut microbiota; ketogenic diet; microbiota–gut–brain axis.

Publication types

Review