Chronic stress can inflame the gut — now scientists know why

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

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

Additional access options:

Nature 618, 221-222 (2023)

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

[

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

Latest on:

Neuroscience
Immunology
Brain
[
Building compositional tasks with shared neural subspaces

Article26 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09805-2)
[
Evolution of taste processing shifts dietary preference

Article26 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09766-6)
[
Thalamocortical transcriptional gates coordinate memory stabilization

Article26 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09774-6)
[
Inhibitory PD-1 axis maintains high-avidity stem-like CD8+ T cells

Article26 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09440-x)
[
iHALT unlocks liver functionality as a surrogate secondary lymphoid organ

Article26 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09803-4)
[
Measles makes a comeback: four charts show where and how

News18 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03769-z)
[
ADHD diagnoses are growing. What’s going on?

News Feature26 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03855-2)
[
A brain implant that could rival Neuralink’s enters clinical trials

News20 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03849-0)
[
Mind-reading devices can now predict preconscious thoughts: is it time to worry?

News Feature19 NOV 25](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03714-0)