Clinical Potential of Microbial Strains, Used in Fermentation for Probiotic Food, Beverages and in Synbiotic Supplements, as Psychobiotics for Cognitive Treatment through Gut-Brain Signaling

Abstract

Pure and viable strains of microorganisms identified and characterized as probiotic strains are used in the fermentation process to prepare probiotic food and beverages. These products are sources of nutrition and help in the maintenance of gut microflora. The intake of food products prepared with the use of probiotic microorganisms and containing their metabolites and whole microbial cells can be considered as a natural formulation of synbiotic products with prebiotic substrates and culture. Other than through the intake of fermented food and beverages, probiotic microorganisms can be taken through a supplement, which is a complementary form prepared by combining separate sources of prebiotic substrates and specific probiotic cultures. Whether a fermented solid food or beverage, both the components in the product are in a synergistic relationship and contribute to several health benefits at a lower cost. The aim of this article is to review the relevant literature and present the outcomes of recent studies which have been conducted to explore the clinical potential of probiotic strains and their effect on psychological conditions. Studies have shown the relationship between gut microbiota and the brain, and their interaction through signaling. The studies have concluded that the gut-brain axis can be manipulated with the intake of probiotic foods or synbiotic supplements containing specific probiotic strains accompanied with their complementary prebiotics for the enhanced sustainability of healthy GIT microflora.

Keywords: beverage; brain; food; gut; health; microbiota; nutrition; probiotics; psychobiotics; synbiotics.

Figure 1

Psychobiotics in nutrition improve gut and brain health via the microbiome–gut–brain axis (Figure is drawn by authors Dahiya and Nigam). The consumption of probiotic products act as psychobiotics, where the microbiota-driven gut–brain axis reflects an interaction between the central nervous system and the intestine through the vagus nerve. Detailed information is available in references [1,2,3,4] for the boxes Probiotic food, Probiotic beverages, and Probiotic supplements. References [80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89] provide detailed information for the boxes Gut health, Inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders, Vagus nerve, Gut–brain axis, and Psychiatric disorders.