The effects of probiotics on depressive symptoms in humans: A systematic review

The effects of probiotics on depressive symptoms in humans

Wallace & Milev (2017) set out to analyse the current research on the effects of probiotics on depressive symptoms since psychiatric disorders have been linked to changes in the gut microbiome, making it a potential target for novel antidepressant treatments. After systematically searching five databases, ten studies that met the inclusion criteria were analysed for effects on mood (5), anxiety (7) and cognition (3). The majority of the studies yielded positive results on all measures of depressive symptoms, but Wallace & Milev (2017) found that the strain of probiotic, the dosing, and duration of treatment varied widely. Furthermore, none of the studies assessed sleep. The authors agree that there is evidence for probiotics alleviating depressive symptoms but express the desire for additional double-blind randomised controlled trials in clinical populations to further assess efficacy. [NPID: probiotics, depression, psychiatric disorders, gut microbiome, antidepressant treatment, mood, anxiety, cognition, sleep]

Year: 2017

Reference: Wallace, C., & Milev, R. (2017). The effects of probiotics on depressive symptoms in humans: a systematic review. Annals of general psychiatry, 16, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-017-0138-2

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