Researchers at University of Colorado Boulder may have found a type of good bacterium that could protect the brain against the harmful effects of stress. If confirmed in clinical trials, the results may lead to probiotic-based treatments against stress, post-traumatic disorder and anxiety.
A recent study led by Matthew Frank, a senior research associate in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience uncovers a beneficial bacterium that has anti-inflammatory properties that, the researchers believe, could be harnessed to stave off stress.
The findings were published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
Frank says that there is a link between inflammation in the brain and stress-related mood disorders. “There is a robust literature that shows if you induce an inflammatory immune response in people, they quickly show signs of depression and anxiety,” he explains.
Senior study author Christopher Lowry, an associate professor in integrative physiology, explains how the findings help to illuminate the link between probiotics and mood disorders.
“If you look at the field of probiotics generally, they have been shown to have strong effects in the domains of cognitive function, anxiety, and fear,” he says, reports MedicalNewsToday.
“This paper helps [to] make sense of that by suggesting that these beneficial microbes, or signals derived from these microbes, somehow make their way to the hippocampus, inducing an anti-inflammatory state.”