Selected Grantee Publications

Reduced Alcohol Preference and Intake after Fecal Transplant in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder Is Transmissible to Germ-Free Mice

Wolstenholme et al., Nature Communications. 2022.

https://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34054-6

Alcohol use disorder is a major cause of reduced life expectancy worldwide, and this misuse has increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fecal microbiota transplant has been shown previously to reduce alcohol craving in humans with cirrhosis. Here, the investigators report that the reduction in craving and alcohol preference is transmissible to male germ-free mice only when live bacteria—and not germ-free supernatants—are used for colonization. This differential colonization was associated with alterations in the gut immune–inflammatory response through short-chain fatty acids. Supported by ORIP (P40OD010995), NIAAA, NIDDK, and NIMH.