Naik Bharati, Sasikumar Jayaprakash, Das Shankar Prasad
Yenepoya Research Centre, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, 575018, India.
Mol Neurobiol. 2025 Jan;62(1):533-556. doi: 10.1007/s12035-024-04270-w. Epub 2024 Jun 14.
The human mycobiome encompasses diverse communities of fungal organisms residing within the body and has emerged as a critical player in shaping health and disease. While extensive research has focused on the skin and gut mycobiome, recent investigations have pointed toward the potential role of fungal organisms in neurological disorders. Among those fungal organisms, the presence of the commensal fungus Malassezia in the brain has created curiosity because of its commensal nature and primary association with the human skin and gut. This budding yeast is responsible for several diseases, such as Seborrheic dermatitis, Atopic dermatitis, Pityriasis versicolor, Malassezia folliculitis, dandruff, and others. However recent findings surprisingly show the presence of Malassezia DNA in the brain and have been linked to diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Multiple sclerosis, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The exact role of Malassezia in these disorders is unknown, but its ability to infect human cells, travel through the bloodstream, cross the blood-brain barrier, and reside along with the lipid-rich neuronal cells are potential mechanisms responsible for pathogenesis. This also includes the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, disruption of the blood-brain barrier, gut-microbe interaction, and accumulation of metabolic changes in the brain environment. In this review, we discuss these key findings from studies linking Malassezia to neurological disorders, emphasizing the complex and multifaceted nature of these cases. Furthermore, we discuss potential mechanisms through which Malassezia might contribute to the development of neurological conditions. Future investigations will open up new avenues for our understanding of the fungal gut-brain axis and how it influences human behavior. Collaborative research efforts among microbiologists, neuroscientists, immunologists, and clinicians hold promise for unraveling the enigmatic connections between human commensal Malassezia and neurological disorders.
人类真菌群落包含寄居于体内的各种真菌生物群落，已成为影响健康和疾病的关键因素。尽管大量研究聚焦于皮肤和肠道真菌群落，但最近的调查指出了真菌生物在神经疾病中的潜在作用。在这些真菌生物中，共生真菌马拉色菌在大脑中的存在引发了人们的好奇，因为它具有共生特性且主要与人类皮肤和肠道相关。这种出芽酵母会引发多种疾病，如脂溢性皮炎、特应性皮炎、花斑癣、马拉色菌毛囊炎、头皮屑等。然而，最近的研究结果令人惊讶地表明大脑中存在马拉色菌DNA，并且它与阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病、多发性硬化症和肌萎缩侧索硬化症等疾病有关。马拉色菌在这些疾病中的确切作用尚不清楚，但其感染人类细胞、通过血液循环、穿越血脑屏障以及与富含脂质的神经元细胞共存的能力，是可能导致发病机制的潜在因素。这还包括促炎细胞因子的诱导、血脑屏障的破坏、肠道微生物相互作用以及大脑环境中代谢变化的积累。在本综述中，我们讨论了将马拉色菌与神经疾病联系起来的研究中的这些关键发现，强调了这些病例的复杂性和多面性。此外，我们还讨论了马拉色菌可能导致神经疾病发展的潜在机制。未来的研究将为我们理解真菌肠道-脑轴及其如何影响人类行为开辟新途径。微生物学家、神经科学家、免疫学家和临床医生之间的合作研究有望揭示人类共生马拉色菌与神经疾病之间的神秘联系。
