| Probiotics |
Intake of Lactobacillus reuteri increases oxytocin levels, improving social behavior. Interventions with Bifidobacterium longum, L. helveticus, and L. acidophilus result in a general improvement in depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, multi-strain probiotics are relevant, such as a multibiotic containing Streptococcus thermophilus (2 strains), L. bulgaricus, L. lactis, L. acidophilus, L. plantarum, Bifidobacterium lactis, and L. reuteri, which have an anxiolytic effect, or the combination of three strains—L. acidophilus, L. casei, and B. bifidum—which decreases scores of depression. Intake of a multibiotic containing L. acidophilus, L. rhamnosus, and B. longum improves conditions in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cases. The cocktail VSL#3, including eight Gram-positive bacterial strains, has been proven to decrease microglial activation and to change the expression of genes linked to inflammation and plasticity in the brain. B. longum 1714 has also been found to have a positive impact on cognition in mice. In cases of Trichuris muris infection, intake of B. longum decreases anxiety-like behavior induced by the parasite, and treatment with L. rhamnosus decreases those behaviors in mice. Intake of probiotics containing Lactobacillus prevents the memory deficits induced by stress in Citrobacter rodentium-infected mice. Treatment with Bifidobacteria reverses behavioral problems in rats with maternal separation depression, restoring levels of noradrenaline and normalizing the immune response.
|
[99,103,118,119] |
| Prebiotics |
Interventions with a galacto-oligosaccharide mixture (B-GOS) have led to improvements in behavioral problems in children with ASD, to decreased anxiety levels in an irritable bowel syndrome cohort, and to an overall reduction of cortisol awakening responses in healthy controls. Intake of isolichenan (α-glucan from the lichen Cetrariella islandica) reverses ethanol-induced memory impairment in mice. Supplementation of diet with a mixed polysaccharide product improves cognitive function in adults. Intake of arabinoxylan from the yeast Triticum aestivum and β-glucan from barley preserves memory in mice with vascular dementia.
|
[103,119,120] |
| FMT |
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from healthy individuals improves several behavioral aspects of ASD. Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) patients who received an FMT from a healthy donor experienced a decrease in HE episodes along with an increase in their cognition.
|
[103,121] |
| Antibiotics |
Germ-free mice treated with antibiotics during the adolescent period show reduced anxiety and improved cognition. When those mice reach adulthood, the tryptophan metabolism is altered, with significantly reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor and oxytocin expression. Treatment with the broad-spectrum antibiotic vancomycin leads to improvements in behavioral problems associated with ASD. Treatment with ampicillin blocks memory deficits generated by phencyclidine (PCP), a common drug used to treat schizophrenia-like syndromes. Intake of antibiotics that target Helicobacter pylori improves clinical outcomes of Parkinson’s disease. Antibiotic therapy that alters the gut microbiota can be used to potentiate the action of antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia.
|
[99,103,119,122] |
| Postbiotics |
Intake of a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) combination—a mixture of acetate, propionate, and butyrate—has anxiolytic effects on stressed mice. Gut peptides have a well-established role in influencing behavior, stress, anxiety, and depression. Heat-killed Lactobacillus paracasei PS23 reverses the reduction in dopamine levels in a corticosterone-induced depressive phenotype. Reports on the use of SCFAs in animal models show symptom relief for multiple sclerosis, decreasing inflammation and demyelination in the brain.
|
[103,123] |
