From bugs to brain: unravelling the GABA signalling networks in the brain-gut-microbiome axis was published in Brain in 2025.
The paper looks beyond GABA’s familiar role in the brain. It reviews evidence for GABA signalling in the gut, microbiome and immune system, and asks how these systems may communicate with one another. The authors include Dr Delia Belelli, Professor David Nutt and Professor Jerome D. Swinny. The publication forms part of a collaboration between GABA Labs and the University of Portsmouth.
This is a review of the science, rather than a clinical trial of SENTIA. It does not test the finished drink or establish a particular consumer effect.
What does this publication say?
From bugs to brain explores how GABA signalling may help connect the brain with the gut, microbiome and immune system.
GABA is best known as the brain’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter, where it helps regulate neural activity. This paper takes the story further. It reviews evidence that GABA and its receptors also appear in the gut and may be involved in communication between gut bacteria, immune cells and the nervous system. That helps explain why GABA Labs is interested in the brain-gut-microbiome axis. It does not show that SENTIA improves gut health or produces a specific finished-product effect.
What question does this publication address?
The paper asks how GABA signalling works across the brain-gut-microbiome axis.
The brain-gut-microbiome axis is the two-way communication network linking the brain and gut with gut bacteria, immune signalling and nervous-system pathways. The paper reviews several ways these systems exchange information. GABA appears as one of the signalling molecules shared across different parts of that network. Put simply, GABA may be part of a much bigger conversation inside the body than its reputation as a “brain chemical” suggests.
Why is GABA relevant beyond the brain?
GABA matters beyond the brain because researchers have also found GABA signalling in the enteric nervous system, the network of nerves that runs through the gut and is sometimes called the “second brain”.
The paper reviews evidence for both GABA-A and GABA-B receptors in this gut-based nervous system. It also looks at research suggesting GABA-related signalling may be involved in gut movement, secretion, immune activity and the gut barrier. The interesting part is that GABA does not necessarily behave in the same way throughout the body. Its role in the gut and other peripheral organs can differ from its well-known inhibitory role in the adult brain. Biology rarely gives us one neat mechanism.
Why is the brain-gut-microbiome axis relevant to SENTIA?
The brain-gut-microbiome axis matters to SENTIA’s wider science story because SENTIA’s scientific rationale is built around the GABA system. This paper shows that GABA biology reaches beyond signalling in the brain alone.
SENTIA uses purpose-built botanical blends designed around the GABA system and the social ritual of drinking without alcohol. This paper opens up another area of scientific interest: how GABA-related signalling may also involve the gut, microbiome and immune system.
That question also connects with GABA Labs’ wider research programme, including ongoing work with the University of Portsmouth on GABA, functional alcohol alternatives and the brain-gut-microbiota axis. The paper should not be read as evidence that SENTIA improves gut health. Its relevance is more specific: it provides peer-reviewed scientific context for investigating how GABA signalling may connect the brain and gut.
Does this paper study SENTIA?
No. The researchers did not study SENTIA in this publication.
This is a scholarly review of existing research into GABA signalling across the brain-gut-microbiome axis. It looks at biological mechanisms, gaps in the evidence and questions for future research. It does not test SENTIA in consumers or measure its effects on mood or digestion. The paper sits in SENTIA’s research hub because members of the GABA Labs Science Team contributed to it. Its subject also helps explain the scientific background to wider GABA Labs research into GABA-related biology.
Key themes from the publication
1. GABA is more than a brain-only neurotransmitter
Most people meet GABA as the brain’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter. The paper shows that GABA signalling also appears in the gut, microbiome and immune system.
2. The gut and brain are in constant conversation
The brain and gut are connected by an active two-way communication network involving nerves, gut bacteria and immune signals. The paper explores where GABA may fit into that exchange.
3. GABA receptors are found outside the brain
The review finds evidence for GABA-A and GABA-B receptors in the enteric nervous system. This suggests GABA-related signalling may have roles in gut physiology as well as in the brain.
4. Gut-derived GABA probably affects the brain indirectly
The paper notes that GABA is unlikely to travel straight from the gut into the brain in any simple way. Instead, GABA outside the brain may influence it through indirect pathways involving the enteric nervous system, immune signalling and microbiome activity.
5. The microbiome may be part of the GABA story
Some gut bacteria can produce GABA, use it or respond to it. The paper reviews how this microbial GABA activity could contribute to communication along the brain-gut-microbiome axis.
6. More human research is needed
The authors are careful about what the current evidence can support. They call for larger, better-designed randomised controlled trials to test probiotic and prebiotic approaches that may influence brain function through GABA-related pathways.
In plain English...
Most people know GABA as one of the brain’s key calming chemicals. This paper shows why the story may be bigger. GABA also appears in the gut and microbiome, where it may take part in the signals passing between the nervous system, immune system and gut bacteria. A useful way to think about it is as part of the body’s wider messaging network, rather than a switch that exists only in the brain.
That makes the subject relevant to GABA Labs, whose wider research is centred on GABA-related biology and functional alternatives to alcohol. It also gives researchers good reasons to study the gut and microbiome alongside the brain. The important boundary is clear: this is research context, not evidence that SENTIA changes the microbiome, improves gut health or treats a condition.
For scientific and technical readers
From bugs to brain reviews GABAergic signalling across the brain-gut-microbiome axis. It gives particular attention to GABA-A and GABA-B receptors, enteric nervous system function, immune signalling, microbial GABA synthesis and indirect communication from gut to brain.
The review describes GABA as a signalling molecule used across neuronal and non-neuronal parts of the BGM axis. It examines GABA receptors in the enteric nervous system, GABA-A receptor subunit diversity and the role of gut bacteria in GABA synthesis and metabolism. It also considers several routes through which peripheral GABA signalling may influence the brain.
The authors also highlight how difficult it is to turn mechanistic findings into claims about real-world interventions. They call for better-controlled studies, more consistent methods and more precise identification of relevant prebiotic or probiotic interventions before firm conclusions can be drawn about dietary effects on brain function.
Why this publication is relevant to GABA Labs
The publication matters to GABA Labs because it adds another layer to the scientific picture around GABA signalling.
GABA Labs researches functional alternatives to alcohol and GABA-related mechanisms. This paper broadens that context by looking at how GABA may operate across the gut, microbiome and immune system as well as the nervous system.
Several authors have connections with GABA Labs. They include Professor David Nutt and Dr Delia Belelli. Jerome D. Swinny is a corresponding author at the University of Portsmouth, and the competing-interest statement discloses that he receives research funding from GABA Labs.
Those relationships are relevant and should be transparent. They show a clear scientific connection to GABA Labs, while the paper itself remains a review of the wider evidence rather than a clinical test of SENTIA.
Read the full paper
Read the full open-access paper here
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