Gut microbesOct 16, 2026

Gut bacteria linked to schizophrenia are connected to lower gut enzyme levels and behavior changes in mice

Gut-Brain Axis Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Oct 17, 2026

Abstract

Fecal microbiota transplantation from patients with schizophrenia resulted in impaired short-term recognition memory and altered behavior in male C57BL/6N mice.

Recipient mice exhibited reduced social novelty preference and decreased prepulse inhibition after receiving microbiota from schizophrenia patients.
Analysis of colonic tissue showed reduced expression of a gene related to proline metabolism alongside increased plasma proline levels.
A specific five-species microbial consortium was identified as associated with the gut microbiota of schizophrenia patients.
Oral administration of this five-species mixture led to similar behavioral alterations and changes in proline metabolism in mice.

Simplified

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder whose biological basis remains incompletely understood. Growing evidence implicates the gut-brain axis in SCZ, but the host pathways through which disease-associated microbiota may influence behavior remain unclear. Here, we examined whether the gut microbiota from patients with SCZ is associated with behavioral and metabolic alterations in male C57BL/6N mice. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from patients with SCZ was associated with impaired short-term recognition memory, reduced social novelty preference, and decreased prepulse inhibition in recipient mice. Transcriptomic profiling of colonic tissue identified reduced expression of Prodh, which encodes proline dehydrogenase (PRODH), together with elevated plasma proline levels. Comparative microbiome analyses identified a five-species candidate consortium associated with the SCZ donor microbiome - Escherichia fergusonii, Shigella sonnei, Morganella morganii, Citrobacter freundii, and Enterococcus faecalis. Oral administration of this five-species mixture (5-SM) was associated with similar behavioral changes, reduced colonic PRODH expression, and hyperprolinemia in mice. Together, these findings support a possible association between schizophrenia-associated changes in the gut microbiota, altered intestinal proline metabolism, and behavioral changes in mice.

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Schizophrenia gut bacteria transplanted into mice changed their behavior within weeks

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Gut bacteria linked to schizophrenia are connected to lower gut enzyme levels and behavior changes in mice

Abstract

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