Effect of caffeine in the microbiome-gut-brain axis: potential beneficial effect in cognitive symptoms of Schizophrenia.

Abstract

Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia is particularly resistant to current treatment, leading to the necessity of new therapeutic approaches. Caffeine positively impacts cognition, exerting its function mainly through antagonism of central adenosine receptors. However, interference with the microbiota-gut-brain axis is a new proposed mechanism for this methylxanthine. In this review, we discuss the effects of caffeine on cognition related to the modulation of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, that could be useful in the treatment of the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. Most studies confirm that coffee ingestion produces significant changes in the human intestinal microbiome. In fact, coffee use leads to a decrease in Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria abundance, which have also been reportedly elevated in patients with schizophrenia. These effects appear to be not only dependent on caffeine but also on the prebiotic effect elicited by other components of coffee. Although the evidence on this matter is still scarce and contradictory, targeting the microbiota-gut-brain axis can be considered a new way to approach cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.