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Review
. 2020 Sep;9(3):171-182.
doi: 10.1007/s13668-020-00313-5.

Probiotics and the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: Focus on Psychiatry

Sabrina Mörkl  1   2 , Mary I Butler  3   4 , Anna Holl  3 , John F Cryan  3   5 , Timothy G Dinan  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Probiotics and the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: Focus on Psychiatry

Sabrina Mörkl et al. Curr Nutr Rep. 2020 Sep.

Erratum in

Abstract

Purpose of review: Probiotics are living bacteria, which when ingested in adequate amounts, confer health benefits. Gut microbes are suggested to play a role in many psychiatric disorders and could be a potential therapeutic target. Between the gut and the brain, there is a bi-directional communication pathway called the microbiota-gut-brain axis. The purpose of this review is to examine data from recent interventional studies focusing on probiotics and the gut-brain axis for the treatment of depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.

Recent findings: Probiotics are likely to improve depression but not schizophrenia. Regarding anxiety, there is only one trial which showed an effect of a multispecies probiotic. However, determinants like the duration of treatment, dosage and interactions have not been thoroughly investigated and deserve more scientific attention. Microbiome-based therapies such as probiotics could be cautiously recommended for depression to enhance beneficial bacteria in the gut and to improve mood through the gut-brain axis.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Gut microbiota; Microbiota-gut-brain axis; Probiotics; Psychiatry; Schizophrenia; Vagal nerve.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Microbiota modulation of the central nervous system (CNS). This figure was created with BioRender.com
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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