CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. In fact, the association estimates that as many as 40 million Americans are affected by the disorder every year.
But hope could be on the horizon as scientists from the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered how a common bacterium could help the body manage stress and prevent depression and anxiety.
The new research pinpoints the role of Lactobacillus a common bacterium that can be found in fermented foods and yogurt.
The research from UVA’s Alban Gaultier, PhD, separated out all the other microorganisms that naturally live in and on our bodies. "These organisms are collectively known as the microbiota, and scientists have increasingly sought to target them to battle disease and improve our health," UVA explained in a press release.
“Our discovery illuminates how gut-resident Lactobacillus influences mood disorders, by tuning the immune system,” said Gaultier, of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience, the Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG Center) and the TransUniversity Microbiome Initiative. “Our research could pave the way towards discovering much-needed therapeutics for anxiety and depression.”
Countless bacteria, fungi, and viruses naturally call our guts home and scientists have increasingly realized just how important these organisms are for our immune health, mental health, and overall well-being. University of Virginia researchers say early attempts to manipulate the gut flora, through probiotics, have resulted in mixed results.
“We were aware from our prior research that Lactobacillus was beneficial in improving mood disorders and was lost following psychological stress, but the underlying reasons remained unclear, primarily due to the technical challenges associated with studying the microbiome.”
Gaultier and the team used a collection of bacteria, known as the Altered Schaedler Flora, to create mice both with and without the bacterium in question. And the results excited the research team.
"Gaultier and his colleagues were able to explain exactly how Lactobacilli influence behavior, and how a lack of the bacteria can worsen depression and anxiety," said the university.
University of Virginia officials say the family of bacteria that Lactobacillus belongs, they found, maintains levels of an immune mediator called interferon gamma. That regulates the body's response to stress and helps stave off depression.
“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, PhD. “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.”
Researchers say they now want to develop new ways to prevent and treat depression and other mental health condition in which Lactobacillus plays a role.
The research was published in the journal Brain Behavior and Immunity.
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