Can Yogurt Combat Depression?
Is yogurt useful in combatting depression? A new study by University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers shows that a key bacterium in fermented foods like yogurt may help lift your mood, opening new avenues for depression treatment.
The study, published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity and reported by University of Virginia, discovered how Lactobacillus helps the body manage stress.
“Our discovery illuminates how gut-resident Lactobacillus influences mood disorders, by tuning the immune system,” said researcher Alban Gaultier, of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience, its Center for Brain Immunology and Glia and the TransUniversity Microbiome Initiative. “Our research could pave the way toward discovering much-needed therapeutics for anxiety and depression.”
The link between depression and microorganisms
Our bodies are home to countless microorganisms. In fact, there are more microbiota living in and on our bodies than there are cells. Many of them reside in the gut. Horrifying as that may sound, these tiny organisms play key roles in many aspects of our physical and mental wellbeing – from immune function to mental health.
When the microbiome inside you is disrupted – due to poor diet or another reason – it contributes to a host of diseases and even helps cancer spread throughout the body. So researchers are interested in studying how microbiota may help fight disease.
While scientists seek to explore links between depression and gut health, it is difficult to isolate one strain of bacteria in the body. Because approximately 39 trillion microorganism make up our microbiome, pinpointing just one can be like trying to pick out individual grains of sand at the beach.
Armed with prior research that suggested Lactobacilli could reverse depression in lab mice, Gaultier and his team made it their focus. Earlier studies showed that mice that experienced stress had lowered levels of Lactobacillus in their gut, leading to the onset of depression symptoms. When the mice were fed a diet including Lactobacillus, they bounced back almost to normal. “A single strain of Lactobacillus,” Gaultier observed, “is able to influence mood.”
Instead of using antibiotics to try to kill off all the other microorganisms, his team employed a rarely-used strain called “Altered Schaedler Flora” to create two communities of mice: those with and without Lactobacillus.
What did the research find?
The research team discovered exactly how Lactobacilli influence behavior, and how a lack of these gut bacteria can worsen depression and anxiety. According to University of Virginia, Lactobacilli “maintain the levels of an immune mediator called interferon gamma that regulates the body’s response to stress and helps stave off depression.”
(Interferons are signaling proteins our cells release in the presence of viruses to protect the body from viral infections. As WebMD explains, “interferons ‘interfere’ with viruses to keep them from multiplying.” Research has shown that while they fight viruses, they can also trigger depression.)
Lactobacilli keep interferon gamma levels from getting out of control. This finding will be useful in developing new depression treatments that may include special probiotics to optimize Lactobacillus levels.
“With these results in hand, we have new tools to optimize the development of probiotics, which should speed up discoveries for novel therapies,” said researcher Andrea R. Merchak said. “Most importantly, we can now explore how maintaining a healthy level of Lactobacillus and/or interferon gamma could be investigated to prevent and treat anxiety and depression.”
Read the full article at University of Virginia.
Or learn more from UVA about reversing depression symptoms in mice using probiotics.
Barney, Josh. “The way to better mental health may go through your stomach.” University of Virginia, 28 Nov 2023, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-mental-health-stomach.html.
Photo by Wesual Click on Unsplash