EC Psychology and Psychiatry

Background: As mental disorders are on the rise all over the world, it has become crucial to understand the pathophysiology of the various disorders so as to come up with effective treatment options. However, in the process of understanding the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders an important aspect of it - the microscopic organisms of our body, i.e., gut microbes are ignored. Gut microbes are crucial not only in digestive health but also in mental health. Thus, it is important to bring the role gut microbes into the limelight and understand how alterations in the good gut microbes can lead to disruptions in the body resulting in disorders of every organ. Understanding the role of gut microbes in brain activities and brain health can lead to a new treatment approach in the psychiatric world as traditional psychiatric medications carry a lot of side effects. The aim of this current review is to introduce the brain-gut-microbiota axis, to briefly describe evidence from studies and lastly to discuss the cause-effect relationship between the gut microbiome and mood disorders.

Methodology: We have taken into account the recent clinical studies to establish the relationship between gut microbes and psychiatric disorders. We have opted stress, anxiety, depression, autism and mood disorder to cover most common psychiatric disorders and their association with gut microbes. We have put a clear analysis of the studies done on effect of probiotics on psychiatric disorders to establish the understanding how alterations in gut microbes can open a new door for treatment trials.

Result: Probiotics in autism has shown a great result in the clinical trials which itself establishes the role of gut microbes in the disorder. There is again a clear relationship establishment of gut microbes and stress as the gut microbes play vital role in neuroendocrine axis and hormones and neurotransmitters formation, it is evident that gut microbes are directly involved in stress along with the dietary habits and residing environment of the person. Reduction in number of gut microbes can manifest as stress, anxiety and other psychiatric disorders as they play an important role in gut-brain axis. Balanced and healthy number of gut microbes help in reducing the inflammation in the brain hence reducing the stress load of the brain and enhancing its functioning.

Keywords: Gut Microbes; Psychiatric Disorders; Gut Brain Axis

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