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Review
. 2018 May 29;19(6):1592.
doi: 10.3390/ijms19061592.

Recognizing Depression from the Microbiota⁻Gut⁻Brain Axis

Shan Liang  1 , Xiaoli Wu  2   3 , Xu Hu  4 , Tao Wang  5 , Feng Jin  6
Affiliations
Review

Recognizing Depression from the Microbiota⁻Gut⁻Brain Axis

Shan Liang et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Major depression is one of the leading causes of disability, morbidity, and mortality worldwide. The brain⁻gut axis functions are disturbed, revealed by a dysfunction of the brain, immune system, endocrine system, and gut. Traditional depression treatments all target the brain, with different drugs and/or psychotherapy. Unfortunately, most of the patients have never received any treatment. Studies indicate that gut microbiota could be a direct cause for the disorder. Abnormal microbiota and the microbiota⁻gut⁻brain dysfunction may cause mental disorders, while correcting these disturbance could alleviate depression. Nowadays, the gut microbiota modulation has become a hot topic in treatment research of mental disorders. Depression is closely related with the health condition of the brain⁻gut axis, and maintaining/restoring the normal condition of gut microbiota helps in the prevention/therapy of mental disorders.

Keywords: brain–gut axis; gut microbiota; major depressive disorder; microbiota–gut–brain axis; psychobiotics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The main pathophysiology and therapy targets of depression. Microbiota–gut–brain axis dysfunction is the main pathophysiology and potential treatment target of major depression. It includes brain dysfunction and gut brain dysfunction. The light red frames in the top and bottom are risk factors of depression, while the light green frames are therapies of depression. EC, enteroendocrine cell; ENS, enteric nervous system; MC, mast cell.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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