Photo of Susanna Walter

Susanna Walter

Adjunct Professor

I am gastroenterologist and interested in understanding brain-gut interactions in patients with functional bowel disorders and visceral pain.

Gut feelings

We are a multidisciplinary research group comprising clinicians, neuroscientists, and preclinical researchers.

Susanna Walter, BKV and Maria Engström, HMV.Susanna Walter, BKV (to the right) and Maria Engström, HMV (to the left).
Together with the clinical neurogastroenterology team (physicians, psychologist, dieticians, and physiotherapists) of the University Hospital in Linköping we study several aspects of the brain-gut-microbiome axis in relation to symptoms and treatments.

Our aims are to understand how leaky gut and other peripheral alterations are related to functional and structural brain alterations. We aim to find new pathophysiological insights, biomarkers and treatment predictors for different patient groups in the field of neurogastroenterology.

Publications

2021

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide plasma levels associated with affective symptoms and brain structure and function in healthy females
Simon RA, Barazanji N, Jones MP, Bednarska O, Icenhour A, Engström M, Hamilton JP, Keita ÅV, Walter S. Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 14;11(1):1406. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-80873-2.PMID: 33446759

Large-scale association analyses identify host factors influencing human gut microbiome composition
Kurilshikov A, Medina-Gomez C, Bacigalupe R, Radjabzadeh D, Wang J, Demirkan A, Le Roy CI, Raygoza Garay JA, Finnicum CT, Liu X, Zhernakova DV, Bonder MJ, Hansen TH, Frost F, Rühlemann MC, Turpin W, Moon JY, Kim HN, Lüll K, Barkan E, Shah SA, Fornage M, Szopinska-Tokov J, Wallen ZD, Borisevich D, Agreus L, Andreasson A, Bang C, Bedrani L, Bell JT, Bisgaard H, Boehnke M, Boomsma DI, Burk RD, Claringbould A, Croitoru K, Davies GE, van Duijn CM, Duijts L, Falony G, Fu J, van der Graaf A, Hansen T, Homuth G, Hughes DA, Ijzerman RG, Jackson MA, Jaddoe VWV, Joossens M, Jørgensen T, Keszthelyi D, Knight R, Laakso M, Laudes M, Launer LJ, Lieb W, Lusis AJ, Masclee AAM, Moll HA, Mujagic Z, Qibin Q, Rothschild D, Shin H, Sørensen SJ, Steves CJ, Thorsen J, Timpson NJ, Tito RY, Vieira-Silva S, Völker U, Völzke H, Võsa U, Wade KH, Walter S, Watanabe K, Weiss S, Weiss FU, Weissbrod O, Westra HJ, Willemsen G, Payami H, Jonkers DMAE, Arias Vasquez A, de Geus EJC, Meyer KA, Stokholm J, Segal E, Org E, Wijmenga C, Kim HL, Kaplan RC, Spector TD, Uitterlinden AG, Rivadeneira F, Franke A, Lerch MM, Franke L, Sanna S, D'Amato M, Pedersen O, Paterson AD, Kraaij R, Raes J, Zhernakova A. Nat Genet. 2021 Jan 18. doi: 10.1038/s41588-020-00763-1. PMID: 33462485

2020

Fatigue in irritable bowel syndrome is associated with plasma levels of TNF-α and mesocorticolimbic connectivity
Norlin AK, Walter S, Icenhour A, Keita ÅV, Elsenbruch S, Bednarska O, Jones MP, Simon R, Engström M. Brain Behav Immun. 2020 Nov 26:S0889-1591(20)32411-9. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.11.035. PMID: 33249172

Increased Colonic Epithelial Permeability and Mucosal Eosinophilia in Ulcerative Colitis in Remission Compared with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Health
Katinios G, Casado-Bedmar M, Walter SA, Vicario M, González-Castro AM, Bednarska O, Söderholm JD, Hjortswang H, Keita ÅV. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2020 Jun 18;26(7):974-984. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izz328.PMID: 31944236

Visual Analysis for Understanding Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Jönsson D, Bergström A, Algström I, Simon R, Engström M, Walter S, Hotz I.Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1156:111-122. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-19385-0_8.PMID: 31338781

Weight loss with or without intragastric balloon causes divergent effects on ghrelin cell expression
Elisabeth Mathus‐Vliegen, Anna Spångeus, Susanna Walter, Ann‐Charlott Ericson. Obesity Science and Practice. December 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.478

2019

Interactions between gut permeability and brain structure and function in health and irritable bowel syndrome
Witt ST, Bednarska O, Keita ÅV, Icenhour A, Jones MP, Elsenbruch S, Söderholm JD, Engström M, Mayer EA, Walter S. Neuroimage Clin. 2019; 21:101602. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.11.012.PMID: 30472166

Elucidating the putative link between prefrontal neurotransmission, functional connectivity, and affective symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome
Icenhour A, Tapper S, Bednarska O, Witt ST, Tisell A, Lundberg P, Elsenbruch S, Walter S. Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 19;9(1):13590. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50024-3.PMID: 31537890

Reduced excitatory neurotransmitter levels in anterior insulae are associated with abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome
Bednarska O, Icenhour A, Tapper S, Witt ST, Tisell A, Lundberg P, Elsenbruch S, Engström M, Walter S. Pain. 2019 Sep;160(9):2004-2012. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001589.PMID: 31045748

On Functional Connectivity and Symptom Relief After Gut-directed Hypnotherapy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Preliminary Study
Simon RA, Engström M, Icenhour A, Lowén M, Ström M, Tillisch K, Mayer E, Elsenbruch S, Walter S. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2019 Jul 1;25(3):478-479. doi: 10.5056/jnm19069.PMID: 31327225

Primary healthcare utilisation and self-rated health among patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: What are the impacts of comorbidities, gastrointestinal symptom burden, sense of coherence and stress?
Norlin AK, Faresjö Å, Falk M, Jones MP, Walter S. J Psychosom Res. 2019 Apr;119:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2019.01.015. PMID: 30947811

Gastrointestinal recall questionnaires compare poorly with prospective patient diaries for gastrointestinal symptoms: data from population and primary health centre samples
Jones MP, Walter S, Faresjö Å, Grodzinsky E, Kjellström L, Viktorsson L, Talley NJ, Agreus L, Andreasson A.Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Feb; 31(2):163-169. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000001296

Latest publication in LiU DiVA

2024

Jenny Sjödahl, Anna Ingemansson, Tetyana Bureychak, Anna-Karin Norlin, Michael P. Jones, Åshild Olsen Faresjö, Susanna Walter (2024) Defecation symptoms in primary health care patients with irritable bowel syndrome Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, Vol. 59, p. 16-24 Continue to DOI

Organisation