Melancholic microbes: a link between gut microbiota and depression?

• Published in: Neurogastroenterology and motility Vol. 25; no. 9; pp. 713 - 719
• Main Authors: Dinan, T. G., Cryan, J. F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-09-2013
• Subjects: Animals; brain‐gut axis; Depression - microbiology; Depression - physiopathology; Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology; Gastrointestinal Tract - physiopathology; Humans; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - physiopathology; IBS; Irritable bowel syndrome; major depression; Medical research; Mental depression; Microbiota; Pituitary-Adrenal System - physiopathology; probiotics; psychobiotics; Studies; microbiota; psychobiotics; brain-gut axis; IBS; major depression; probiotics
• ISSN: 1350-1925; 1365-2982
• DOI: 10.1111/nmo.12198

There is a growing awareness of the potential for microbiota to influence gut‐brain communication in health and disease. A variety of strategies have been used to study the impact of the microbiota on brain function and these include antibiotic use, probiotic treatments, fecal microbiota transplantation, gastrointestinal infection studies, and germ‐free studies. All of these approaches provide evidence to support the view that the microbiota can influence brain chemistry and consequently behavior. Efforts are now turning to investigate the role of microbiota in animal models of psychopathology. Animal models of depression are thus essential in studying the complex interplay between the microbiota and brain. Recent studies published in this Journal and elsewhere demonstrate that there is a distinct perturbation of the composition of gut microbiota in animal models of depression and chronic stress. This has direct implications for the development of psychobiotic‐based therapeutic strategies for psychiatric disorders. Moreover, given that affective co‐morbidities, such as major depression and anxiety states, are common in patients presenting with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), it may have implications for functional bowel disorders also. Further studies require appropriately phenotyped patients with depression and/or IBS using a judicious use of techniques including functional imaging and in depth microbial pyrosequencing.
There is a growing awareness of the potential for microbiota to influence gut‐brain communication in health and disease. Efforts are now turning to investigate the role of microbiota in animal models of psychopathology. Intriguingly alterations in microbiota composition is being demonstrated across a variety of models of chronic stress and depression. Large‐scale metagenomic analysis of microbiota in depressed populations is now warrented.