# Intestinal Dysbiosis Relating to Gut–Brain Axis and Behavior in Dogs: A Systematic Review with Text Mining Approach

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how gut bacteria imbalances in dogs may affect their behavior through the gut-brain connection, using text mining to analyze recent studies.

## Contribution

This is the first systematic review to apply text mining to study the link between gut dysbiosis, the gut-brain axis, and dog behavior.

## Key findings

- 35 studies were analyzed to explore the relationship between gut dysbiosis and canine behavior.
- Text mining revealed potential pathways through which gut bacteria influence neurological and behavioral outcomes.
- The review highlights the need for further research on how gut health impacts dog behavior.

## Abstract

Dysbiosis, defined as an alteration of the physiological intestinal eubiosis, has been implicated in a wide range of pathological conditions, including behavioral disorders in dogs. Increasing evidence supports the existence of a bidirectional communication between the gut microbiota and the central nervous system in both humans and domestic animals, commonly referred to as the gut–brain axis. Despite growing scientific interest, the role of intestinal dysbiosis in modulating canine behavior remains incompletely understood. Therefore, this systematic review aims to comprehensively examine the association between intestinal dysbiosis, the gut–brain axis, and behavior in dogs by applying a Text Mining (TM) approach to the scientific literature published between 2011 and 18 September 2025.

The intestinal microbiome plays a fundamental role in canine health and well-being, regulating functions, including digestion, immunity, metabolism, and behavior. Dysbiosis refers to the disruption of the balanced composition of resident commensal communities, and gut bacteria can influence behavior via neurological, metabolic, endocrine, and immune-mediated pathways. Growing evidence supports the existence of a bidirectional communication between the gut and the central nervous system, known as the gut–brain axis, through which intestinal microorganisms may influence behavior via neurological, metabolic, endocrine, and immune-mediated pathways. Despite the expanding interest in this field, the contribution of intestinal dysbiosis to the development and severity of behavioral and neurological disorders in companion dogs remains poorly understood. This review aims to critically analyze the literature from 2011 to 18 September 2025 concerning the association between dysbiosis, the gut–brain axis, and both gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal illnesses in dogs. To our knowledge, this review represents the first application of Text Mining (TM) in this domain: TM facilitates the identification and analysis of valuable information from extensive datasets, converting unstructured content into structured data, thereby enabling quantitative analysis. We used the following search terms on three bibliographic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science): “dysbiosis” AND “canine” OR “dog” AND “gut–brain axis” AND “behavior”. Of the 1176 records retrieved, 35 studies were checked following the PRISMA guidelines, and they met the predefined inclusion criteria in the final analysis.