Anxiety is a common mental health disorder that affects millions of people around the world. It has long been the subject of intense scientific research.
Recently, researchers came across an unexpected alliance in this common state, a battle with humble gut microbes.
Intestinal microorganisms appear to produce a compound known as indoles, which is important for regulating anxiety-related brain activity in their natural habitat.
Small microorganisms, big influence
Researchers with a base Duke Nuss Medical School The National Institute of Neuroscience has then set out to investigate the role of intestinal microorganisms in regulating anxiety behavior.
The findings are truly spectacular. Microorganisms in the gut not only affect brain activity, they can also be key to potential treatments for mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
Intestinal microorganisms and anxiety
Mental health disorders are becoming more and more common in today’s world. For example, in Singapore, one in seven people experience mental health issues.
The most common conditions include depression and anxiety, which contribute significantly to the burden of disease in many countries.
The researchers set out to explore how the presence of microorganisms affects mice’s uneasy behavior.
In germ-free mice that were not exposed to living microorganisms, observable anxiety-related behaviors were significantly increased compared to those in mice exposed to microorganisms.
From the gut to the brain
In further research, the researchers linked this increased anxiety with enhanced activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a part of the brain that is involved in processing emotions such as fear and anxiety.
More specifically, the team identified the role of a specialized protein within brain cells called calcium-dependent SK2 channels that regulate anxiety behavior.
“Our findings reveal specific complex neural processes that link microorganisms to mental health,” says Professor Shawn Jello, author of co-leads.
“People without living microorganisms showed higher levels of anxiety behavior than people with living bacterial species. Essentially, the lack of these microorganisms is the brain, especially in areas that control fear and anxiety. It has confused the way it works and led to uneasy behavior.”
Intestinal microorganisms and mental balance
The researchers extended their research by introducing live microorganisms into sterile mice.
The reintroduction of living microorganisms significantly reduced the increased neuronal activity in the basolateral amygdala, indicating that rodents had fewer anxiety-related behaviors.
Furthermore, treating these germ-free mice with metabolites produced by specific microorganisms has similar effects, confirming a direct link between the gut microbiota and mental balance. .
“Establishing hunger signals and controlling hunger is an evolutionarily conserved defense mechanism. Therefore, physiological switches at birth can be considered as the first major wave of anxiety exposure in newborns You can do this, just say, “If you don’t eat, you’ll die.”
“In addition, births are associated with exposure to breast milk and are known to contain microorganisms that can produce molecules known as indoles.”
“Indole is known to be secreted in plants during stress and malnutrition (drought), and in this paper we report a similar mechanism by which indole can regulate mammalian anxiety levels. .”
A new era of anxiety treatment
This breakthrough suggests that targeting the gut brain axis can pave the way for new anxiety treatment through dietary indole supplementation or introduction of indole-producing microorganisms as probiotics.
Professor Patrick Tan, senior vice-president of research at Duke-Nus, said the findings highlight a deep evolutionary link between microorganisms, nutrition and brain function.
“This has great potential for people suffering from stress-related conditions, such as sleep disorders and people who cannot withstand standard psychiatric medications. Mental health is not only in the brain, but also in the gut. It reminds me of that,” Professor Tan said.
The researchers then test findings in clinical trials and examine the effectiveness of indole-based probiotics or supplements as natural anxiety treatments in humans.
If these exams are successful, we may be on the brink of a new era of mental health care. There, intestinal microorganisms play a crucial role in maintaining a mental health balance.
The complete study was published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.
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