Beyond the Microbiome: Dietary Modulation of Inflammation and the Gut–Brain Axis in Health and Disease.

The field of nutritional neuroscience has increasingly recognized the gut–brain axis as a pivotal system mediating communication between diet, gut microbiota, immune function, and the central nervous system. Within this framework, inflammation emerges as a crucial mechanistic link connecting nutritional exposures with both metabolic and mental health outcomes. Diet-driven dysbiosis and chronic low-grade inflammation are now understood to influence pathways of neuroinflammation, autonomic regulation, and energy metabolism, contributing to conditions such as obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and depression. Recent studies have shown that specific dietary patterns, ranging from ultra-processed food consumption to anti-inflammatory and microbiome-friendly diets, can modulate these processes, but the integrative mechanistic understanding of how these effects converge across systems remains fragmented. While certain interventions such as probiotics, polyphenols, and nutraceuticals have shown promising results in mitigating inflammation-related dysfunction, the translation of mechanistic evidence into clinical application is still limited. This expanding field calls for deeper interdisciplinary exploration to delineate how dietary modulation of inflammation within the gut–brain axis shapes systemic and neural health across different life stages.This Research Topic aims to advance a unified understanding of how nutritional strategies influence the gut–brain axis through inflammation-centered mechanisms that link diet to metabolic and mental health. Specifically, it seeks to clarify how diverse interventions, from whole dietary patterns to targeted bioactive compounds, impact gut microbial ecology, immune activation, neuroinflammation, and physiological regulation, ultimately affecting cognition, mood, and metabolism. The Topic encourages multidisciplinary contributions spanning molecular research, preclinical models, clinical trials, and multi-omics approaches. A central objective is to integrate insights across biological scales to inform preventive and therapeutic nutrition strategies for both general and at-risk populations, including children, adolescents, and maternal-offspring cohorts.To gather further insights within the boundaries of diet-induced inflammatory modulation of the gut–brain axis, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Molecular and cellular pathways linking dietary factors to gut-derived inflammation and neuroimmune signalingo Impacts of dietary patterns, ultra-processed foods, and functional foods on the gut microbiota–inflammation–brain triado Roles of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics in modulating inflammatory and neuroendocrine responseso Influence of polyphenols, fatty acids, and nutraceuticals on neuroinflammation and cardiometabolic regulationo Translational and clinical evidence connecting nutrition-based interventions with outcomes in obesity, hypertension, depression, and stress-related disorderso Multi-omics and systems biology studies revealing biomarkers of inflammatory gut–brain communicationo Developmental and life-course research on early-life nutrition, inflammation, and neurobehavioral outcomesArticle types may include original research, clinical trials, systematic reviews, brief reports, and perspectives. Topic editors: Paulo César Trindade da Costa, Diego Armando Esquivel Hernandez Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80936/beyond-the-microbiome-dietary-modulation-of-inflammation-and-the-gut-brain-axis-in-health-and-disease