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Two types of bacteria, Coprococcus and Dialister, are depleted in people with depression, researchers report today (February 4) in Nature Microbiology. The study also found that many gut bacteria can produce compounds that act on the nervous system. If confirmed, the results could lead to a deeper understanding of the gut-brain connection, and possibly open avenues to new treatments for mental illness.
“This is the first time this kind of work has been done in such a large scale in humans. Most previous work has been done in animal models,” study coauthor Jeroen Raes, a systems biologist at The Flanders Institute of Biotechnology, tells Forbes. Because most previous studies on a possible connection between gut microbial metabolism and mental health had been done in animals, the relationship has been controversial.
To find out whether the link applies to humans, Raes and his colleagues analyzed the microbiomes ...
