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Review
. 2020 Oct;10(10):e01803.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.1803. Epub 2020 Sep 10.

"Gut-brain axis": Review of the role of the probiotics in anxiety and depressive disorders

Eleonora Gambaro  1   2 , Carla Gramaglia  1   2 , Giulia Baldon  1 , Emilio Chirico  1 , Maria Martelli  1 , Alessia Renolfi  1 , Patrizia Zeppegno  1   2
Affiliations
Review

"Gut-brain axis": Review of the role of the probiotics in anxiety and depressive disorders

Eleonora Gambaro et al. Brain Behav. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Depressive disorders are the leading cause of disability worldwide and together with anxiety contribute to a very high burden of disease. Therefore, improving their treatment is a significant medical research target: The role of probiotics is a topic of great interest for the current research in this field.

Objectives: To explore the current literature about the impact of probiotics on anxious and depressive symptoms.

Methods: Scoping review following the PRISMA guidelines.

Results: The selection process yielded 23 studies. Probiotics positively affected depressive symptomatology and anxiety symptoms according to 53.83% and 43.75% of the selected studies, respectively. Among the studies assessing inflammatory biomarkers, 58.31% found they were decreased after administration of probiotics.

Conclusion: The results emerging from the existing literature about probiotic supplementation for depression treatment are encouraging, but further research is needed considering the shortage of clinical trials on this topic and the heterogeneity of the samples analyzed.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; gut-brain axis; inflammation; probiotics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta‐analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA‐ScR) checklist
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
PRISMA flow chart
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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