Can Probiotics Help Depression? New research suggests links

(CNN) – A guts wrench experience. A butterfly in your stomach.

Many of us intuitively feel the connection between the intestine and the brain. This relationship and how the range of bacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract (the microbiome) helps in the treatment of mental illness has been of interest to scientists in recent years.

A new review of the medical literature suggests that probiotics-foods or supplements containing microorganisms that are believed to have a positive effect on our gut-may help alleviate depression ..

“This is a quality study, but it’s a relatively preliminary review of the data,” said Alan Young, a professor of mood disorders at King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry and Institute of Psychology & Neuroscience, Science in London. Told the media center.

“Thus, a systematic review of this research literature supports the notion that prebiotics and probiotics may help people with anxiety and depression, but more research is needed.” The data provide the basis for conducting large-scale trials,” said Young. Those who were not involved in the review.

Researchers at the University of Brighton and Croydon University Hospital in the United Kingdom saw 71 studies published between 2003 and 2019 and found that probiotics, and prebiotics, and compounds that help probiotics thrive. We looked at how it could help adults with depression and anxiety disorders.

Only seven were considered robust enough to be included in a systematic review, but when measuring the effect of taking pre/probiotics compared to no treatment or placebo, all of them were Showed “significant improvement”. Research suggests that probiotic supplements alone or in combination with prebiotics may be associated with a measurable reduction in depression, while possible contributions to reducing anxiety are: He said it was not clear yet.

The researchers said there were some caveats in their review: None of the included studies lasted very long. And the number of each participant was small.

As a result, it was difficult to draw firm conclusions about the overall effect, duration of effect, and whether there were any unwanted side effects associated with long-term use.

David Curtis, a retired consultant psychiatrist and emeritus professor at University College London, said probiotics are unlikely to affect mood.

“While these published studies claim to show some benefits of probiotics for depression, I’m not sure if there were other studies that did not show unpublished effects,” he said. Told SMC.

“People with depression should seek medical advice and should not try to treat themselves with unproven dietary supplements.”

Knowledge gap

Review published Monday Journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, Exactly how probiotics alleviate depression is unclear, but the researchers suggested could be twice as effective.

First, probiotics can help reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals such as cytokines. Or, it may help direct the action of tryptophan, a chemical thought to be important in the intestinal axis of mental illness.

Second, people with depression often also have other underlying disorders, such as impaired insulin production and irritable bowel syndrome, and probiotics influence the depression experience by alleviating these conditions. There is a possibility.

However, the use of probiotics to treat digestive disorders is unclear.

Most gastrointestinal disorders-including gastrointestinal disorders such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome Review published last month by the American Academy of Gastroenterology He said there was insufficient evidence to recommend the use of probiotics.

“We’re still learning about the many complex communication pathways between the brain and intestine. How microbiota-targeted therapies can improve aspects of depression and anxiety by alleviating an individual’s digestive tract? That’s certainly true,” said the pediatric gastroenterologist at the Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Texas Children’s Hospital.

“Current evidence-based AGA reviews have not found sufficient evidence to recommend IBS probiotics at this time. We need to continue to evaluate the rapidly changing evidence in the field,” he said in an email.

Emerging fields

Probiotics have come to know more about the role of intestinal bacteria, or microbiomes, in digestive health, promising an effective way for probiotics to effectively transform the microbiome, Popularity is increasing.

The review’s research looked primarily at 12 probiotic strains: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, and Bifidobacterium bifidum. One study looked at pre-probiotic combination therapy and one looked at pre-biotic therapy alone.

John Clan, professor and chair of the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Principal Investigator at the Center for Nutritional Pharmacology at University College Cork, it is important to identify which strain produced which effect. Said yes.

“We know that strains are really important, and this review can’t identify what that is for a particular strain that has a beneficial effect on them,” he told SMC.

“As this review emphasizes, there is a great need for longitudinal studies of different psychobiological strains and diets, both as stand-alone or adjunctive therapies for anxiety and depression.”