Germs in the gut can cause anxiety and other mental health troubles, according to Singapore-based scientists, who said their findings suggest that probiotics could be a solution.
Tests on mice showed “crucial connection between gut microbes and anxiety-related behaviour,” according to researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School and Singapore’s National Neuroscience Institute.
Published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, the team’s findings suggest that microbial metabolites called indoles, which are produced by gut microbes, “play a direct role in regulating brain activity linked to anxiety.”
The discovery “opens up exciting possibilities for new probiotic-based therapies to improve mental health,” the team said, adding that they were already looking into doing related clinical trials.
The tests results show links between microbes, nutrition and brain function, said Patrick Tan, senior vice-dean for research at Duke-NUS.
“This has huge potential for people suffering from stress-related conditions, such as sleep disorders or those unable to tolerate standard psychiatric medications,” Tan added.
The findings follow the recent uncovering of a link between a form of gut bacteria and depression by a team from Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital.
And in January, a team of French and Italian scientists said they had found “a real breakthrough” on how x-rays can “provide clues on the processes that link the gut neurons with those in the brain and may trigger Alzheimer’s.” – dpa
