DWeissLab

So thrilled this story is now published! Huge thank you to @PLOSBiology! @grakoui @anuradhaiitm

Thank you so much to Jenny Lehmann @itsJennyLemon and @DiscoverMag for this wonderful write up of our paper! discovermagazine.com/how-a-high-fat… @grakoui @anuradhaiitb

@cliao345 @PLOSBiology @grakoui @anuradhaiitm Thanks, Chen!

@DWeissLab @PLOSBiology @grakoui @anuradhaiitm Congrats, David!

So thrilled this story is now published! Huge thank you to @PLOSBiology! @grakoui @anuradhaiitm

@palis Yes, that is what the data suggest.

@DWeissLab Does this mean bacteria traveled through or up along the vagus nerve itself?

Bacteria in our BRAINS??! We observed translocation of bacteria from the gut to the brain via the vagus nerve. This occurred after high fat diet, or without dietary changes in mouse models of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and autism. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ar…

@bioBlogia Thank you. You raise a very fair concern. The paper has just been published in @PLOSBiology after peer review and the inclusion of even more controls which we think rule out contamination as a potential explanation. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ar…

Bacteria migrating to our brains? Very intriguing paper. Just hope it’s not contamination or an artifact like in placental or cancer microbiome papers.

@jjminich Very fair to be skeptical. We were at first as well. The paper was just published in @PLOSBiology after peer review and the inclusion of many more controls. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ar…

Bacteria in the brain!!! Idk about this one. Certainly interesting that authors make the claims based on culturing rather than genomics… either way not convinced with the scarcity of controls used

@NihatTopalakci Good question. We tested one high-fat diet but did not test increasing levels of fat in the diet. This would be a great experiment. Thank you.

@DWeissLab Does the research show that a higher-fat diet leads to more bacteria entering the brain?

Bacteria in our BRAINS?? Surprisingly, we observe translocation of gut bacteria to the brain via the vagus nerve. This occurs in mice fed a high fat diet, or without dietary changes in mouse models of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and autism. 🧵 biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

@NietzscheanHobo @PLOSBiology @grakoui @anuradhaiitm Good question. Not yet. We’re working on it. Thanks for your interest!

@DWeissLab @PLOSBiology @grakoui @anuradhaiitm anything beyond mouse models?

Big thank you to @liuswrites for this wonderful piece about our study! We found that gut bacteria can escape to the brain via the vagus nerve in settings of high-fat diet or in models of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and autism. the-scientist.com/a-high-fat-die…

This was an amazing collaboration with Arash Grakoui @grakoui and an exceptional team, especially Manoj Thapa, @anuradhaiitb. Chui-Yoke Chin, Jacob Choby and many others. Big thank you to @PLOSBiology! @BWFPATH, @alzassociation

In all models tested, bacterial translocation to the brain correlated with gut dysbiosis and intestinal barrier permeability, and the bacteria reaching the brain were always found in the gut. We hope other researchers will investigate these findings and share their results.

“The rise of NDMs in the U.S. is a grave danger and very worrisome,” said David Weiss, an Emory University infectious diseases researcher, Read more about a new study that found a 461% increase in CP-CRE cultures in the US that had NDM genes #AMR nbcnews.com/health/health-…

I encourage students and postdocs to check out Jake Choby's new lab at UNC - he's a rockstar, outstanding mentor, and is exploring a new frontier in the fight against superbugs!

Bacteria can adapt to B-lactam stress by increasing copy number of "wimpy" B-lactamases to overcome new drugs/B-lactamase inhibitors without new evolution, threatening the B-lactam dominated antibiotic pipeline. Congrats Jake Choby (UNC) and team! nature.com/articles/s4146…

Get your proposal together for BWF PATH's 2026 awards! Letter of Intent deadline is July 17, 2025

Very cool. Congrats, @SophieHelaine!

@DrPHO_ID Thanks, Tik! Great question. We have not investigated Gram positives yet.

@DWeissLab Interesting! Holds true for Gram positive too or no?

Bactericidal antibiotics release DNA that activates TLR9, while static antibiotics do not. Can profoundly impact treatment outcome. Should clinicians consider this when choosing antibiotics? Amazing work by Julia Gross and collaboration with Iain Fraser! nature.com/articles/s4146…

Big thank you to @TrendsMicrobiol, @FlorentMorio, @NicolasPapon49 and Anais Herivaux for highlighting our recent story on undetected heteroresistance causing failure of antifungal prophylaxis. @tmhohl71 @BingZhai @cliao345 Joao Xavier nature.com/articles/s4159…