Mansuy-Aubert Laboratory

Microbiota, Metabolism and Sensory Physiology

Since 2016 we elucidate how diet impacts nerves and metabolic health. Our goal is to develop therapies and nutrient guidelines to improve health, ageing, metabolic performance and prevent metabolic and neurological diseases. Our lab relocated from Chicago to Lausanne in the summer of 2022.

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Last publication - May 20 2026

New publication Alert, diet impacts pain...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915912600543X
Western diets—high in fat and sugar but low in fiber—often cause chronic nerve pain and hypersensitivity. Researchers discovered that adding a type of dietary fiber called inulin to the diet can reverse this damage. Inulin feeds beneficial gut bacteria, which then produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These SCFAs travel to fatty tissues, reduce inflammation, and help the nervous system recover.
The study highlights how targeted fiber intake can act as an effective alternative to fecal transplants to protect nerve health.
Key takeaways from the research:
  • The Problem: Western diets lack fermentable fibers, which leads to nerve-related pain and hypersensitivity.
  • The Solution: Adding inulin (a complex carbohydrate fiber) to the diet remodels gut bacteria and produces beneficial short-chain fatty acids.
  • How It Works: The SCFAs improve overall metabolic health and reduce inflammation around nerves

Improve Neuronal Functions With Nutrition, the Gut Brain axis

Associate professor at the University of Lausanne, Virginie Mansuy Aubert research uses transgenic mouse models and advanced culture techniques to understand the mechanistic link between diet, microbiota and the autonomic functions. Her team is working on neurons and inflammatory cells that respond to changes in diet and in the microbiota derived metabolites, the short chain fatty acids. The microbiota / neuron/immune interaction generates changes in the brain and peripheral nerve systems that regulate appetite, heart function, energy expenditure and somatosensory function including pain.

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"Let food be thy medicine,
and let medicine be thy food."

Hippocrates