Chronic stress can inflame the gut — now scientists know why

• NEWS
• 25 May 2023

Signals originating in the brain make their way to gut nerve cells, leading to a release of inflammatory chemicals.

By

• Saima Sidik

1. Saima Sidik

• Twitter
• Facebook
• [Email](mailto:?subject=Chronic stress can inflame the gut — now scientists know why&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-023-01700-y)

Psychological stress is known to worsen the gut inflammation caused by certain bowel diseases. Now scientists have found out why. New research1 outlines a sweeping narrative that begins with chemical cues produced in the brain and ends with immune cells in the gut — a sequence that spells trouble for people with these conditions.

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

27,99 € / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

199,00 € per year

only 3,90 € per issue

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

• Log in
• Learn about institutional subscriptions
• Read our FAQs
• Contact customer support

Nature 618, 221-222 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01700-y

Related Articles

• [
  
  Guardians of the brain: how a special immune system protects our grey matter](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01502-8)

• [
  
  Gut feeling yields evidence of microbial involvement in autoimmunity](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01837-8)

• [
  
  Your brain could be controlling how sick you get — and how you recover](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00509-z)

• [
  
  Brain-cell growth keeps mood disorders at bay](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02210-z)

Subjects

• Neuroscience
• Immunology
• Brain

Latest on:

• Neuroscience

• Immunology

• Brain

• [
  Lymphoid gene expression supports neuroprotective microglia function
  
  Article05 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09662-z)

• [
  Continuous cell-type diversification in mouse visual cortex development
  
  Article05 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09644-1)

• [
  Developmental maps of the brain trace when cell types emerge
  
  News & Views05 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03450-5)

• [
  Antibody drugs show promise for treating bird flu and HIV
  
  News05 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03540-4)

• [
  COVID-19 is spreading again — how serious is it and what are the symptoms?
  
  News04 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03412-x)

• [Independent mechanisms of inflammation and myeloid bias in VEXAS syndrome
  
  Article03 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09815-0)

• [
  Developmental maps of the brain trace when cell types emerge
  
  News & Views05 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03450-5)

• [
  ‘Mind-captioning’ AI decodes brain activity to turn thoughts into text
  
  News05 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03624-1)

• [
  Disconnecting part of the brain sends it into a deep sleep
  
  News20 OCT 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03388-8)

Jobs

• 

• 

• Senior Engineer – i-BRAIN Nanofabrication Facility

Develop nanofab processes, operate advanced tools includes EBL, KrF Stepper, PL, CDSEM & PVD for cutting-edge BCI research. Fluent English & Mandarin.

Guangming Distrcit, Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation