Some preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the positive impact of probiotic supplementation on depressive symptoms. This paper aims to provide an updated meta-analysis on the topic.
...Using the keywords probiotics OR gut OR microflora OR microbiome OR bacteria OR yeast OR yoghurt OR lactobacillus OR bifidobacterium AND mood OR depression OR MDD OR suicide, a preliminary search on the PubMed, Ovid, Clinical Trials Register of the Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group (CCDANTR) and Cochrane Field for Complementary Medicine database yielded 917 papers published in English between 1-Jan-1960 and 1-June-2017.
10 clinical trials with a total of 1349 patients were reviewed, comparing the use of probiotics to placebo controls. There was no significant difference in mood between the treatment and placebo group post-intervention as the standardized mean difference (SMD) was −0.128 (95% CI −0.261 to 0.00463, P=0.059). A separate subgroup analysis of studies conducted in healthy versus depressed individuals found significant improvements in the moods of individuals with mild to moderate depressive symptoms (SMD −0.684, 95% CI −1.296 to −0.0712, P=0.029) and non-significant effects in healthy individuals (SMD −0.0999, 95% CI −0.235 to 0.0348, P=0.146).
Inter-study discrepancies with respect to probiotic dosing, bacterial strains and strain combinations limit the comparability of current clinical trials. Furthermore, majority of existing RCTs were conducted in healthy individuals, making it difficult to extrapolate the results to depressed individuals.
Probiotic supplementation has an overall insignificant effect on mood. Future studies should be conducted on more patients with clinically diagnosed depression.
•10 randomized, controlled trials with a total of 1349 patients were reviewed.•The use of probiotics was compared to placebo controls.•Probiotic supplementation has an overall insignificant effect on mood.•Future studies should be conducted on more patients with clinically diagnosed MDD.
With increasing presence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into the environment, the chronic and low-dose effects of AgNPs are of vital concern. This study evaluated chronic physiological effects of ...AgNPs on Daphnia similis, which were exposed to two ambient encountered concentrations (0.02 and 1 ppb) of AgNPs for 21 days. It was observed that the low-dose AgNPs stimulated a significant increase in average length/dry mass, but inhibited reproduction compared to control specimens. Non-targeted metabolomics based on liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-QTOFMS-MS) and gas chromatograph-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF-MS) were utilized to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of these responses. Forty one metabolites were identified, including 18 significantly-changed metabolites, suggesting up regulation in protein digestion and absorption (amino acids, such as isoleucine, tryptophan, lysine, leucine, valine, aspartic acid, threonine, tyrosine) and down regulation of lipid related metabolism (fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid, stearidonic acid, linoelaidic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid) were key events in these responses. The increase in these amino acid contents explains the accelerated growth of D. similis from the metabolic pathway of aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis. Down regulation of fatty acid contents corresponds to the observed drop in the reproduction rate considering the fatty acid biological enzymatic reaction pathways. Significant changes in metabolites provided a renewed mechanistic understanding of low concentration chronic toxicity of AgNP toxicity on D. similis.
•Present an emphasis of silver nanoparticles on Daphnia similis, by metabolomic technology.•Present Daphnia grow faster, but reproduced less with the chronic exposure of low-dose AgNPs.•Present the molecular mechanism that the Daphnia exposed to AgNPs experienced metabolism.
Background and Aim
Post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by symptoms of hyperarousal and hypervigilance. Increasing research on the “gut–brain” axis ...(bidirectional signaling between the gut and the brain) has drawn links between PTSD and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), an exceedingly common yet incompletely understood gastrointestinal condition. This meta‐analysis thus aimed to examine the body of evidence and extent of association of PTSD with IBS.
Methods
Using the keywords early abuse OR childhood abuse OR violence OR trauma OR PTSD AND irritable bowel syndrome or IBS, a preliminary search on the PubMed, Medline, Embase, ScienceDirect, PsychINFO, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases yielded 11,257 papers published in English between January 1, 1988, and May 1, 2018. Of these, only eight studies were included in the final meta‐analysis.
Results
The eight studies (four cross‐sectional and four cohort) contained a total of 648,375 subjects. Most studies were from the USA and conducted on army veterans. The funnel plot revealed a roughly symmetrical distribution of studies, and Egger test was not significant for publication bias (P = 0.583). Random‐effects meta‐analysis found PTSD to be a significant risk factor for IBS (pooled odds ratio 2.80, 95% confidence interval: 2.06 to 3.54, P < 0.001).
Conclusions
Overall, PTSD is associated with an increased likelihood of IBS. This is the first meta‐analysis to specifically examine the association between PTSD and IBS, and it provides insights into the probable (patho)physiology and management of IBS, supporting a holistic consideration of the psychosocial aspects of IBS and further research into effective multi‐modal therapeutics.
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•Low dose of nC60 had minor growth inhibition on Scenedesmus Obliquus.•Omic technology was used to examine the molecular mechanism.•nC60 increased TCA cycle activity and caused ...feedback inhibition of photosynthesis.
This work evaluated biological effect of nC60 on Scenedesmus obliquus. The cells were exposed to various concentrations of nC60 for 7days. Low-dose of nC60 was found to have a minor growth inhibitory effect. The transcriptomics and metabolomics were integrated to examine intricate molecular and cellular effects of nC60 on Scenedesmus obliquus. We found that Scenedesmus obliquus cells exposed to nC60 had several significant alterations in cellular transcription and biochemical processes. During the 7-day exposure to nC60, 2234 and 2,448 unigenes were differentially expressed by 0.1mg/L and 1mg/L nC60-treated groups compared with the control, including 2085 or 2247 up-regulated genes and 149 or 201 down-regulated genes, respectively. We successfully identified 22 metabolites, including 6 significantly changed metabolites, such as sucrose, d-glucose, and malic acid. The citrate cycle (TCA cycle) (ko00020) was the main target of both differentially expressed genes and metabolic change. However, accumulation of sucrose (end-product) could have induced feedback inhibition of photosynthesis in Scenedesmus obliquus, explaining the slight growth inhibition observed. The results provided a mechanistic understanding of the growth inhibition of nC60 toxicity. These genes and metabolites are useful biomarkers for future studies and offer new insights into the early detectable changes in Scenedesmus obliquus with nC60 exposure.
There is accumulating evidence on the beneficial effects of probiotic supplementation for patients with depressive disorders. However, prior reviews on the topic have largely focused on clinical ...effectiveness with limited emphasis on the underlying mechanisms of action and effects of probiotics on gut microbiota. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature search of Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library using combinations of the key words, ("depress*" OR "MDD" OR "suicide"), ("probiotic" OR "Lactobacillus" OR "Bifidobacterium") AND ("gut" OR "gut micr*" OR "microbiota"), as well as grey literature was performed. We found seven clinical trials involving patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). The small number of studies and heterogeneous sources of data precluded meta-analysis. Most trials (other than one open-label trial) had a low-to-moderate risk of bias, which was largely due to a lack of control for the effects of diet on gut microbiota. Probiotic supplementation yielded only modest effects on depressive symptoms and there were no consistent effects on gut microbiota diversity, and in most instances, no significant alterations in gut microbiota composition were observed after four to eight weeks of probiotic intervention. There is also a lack of systematic reporting on adverse events and no good longer-term data. Patients with MDD may require a longer time to show clinical improvement and the microbial host environment may also need longer than eight weeks to produce significant microbiota alterations. To advance this field, further larger-scale and longer-term studies are required.
Many developed countries are experiencing a rapidly “greying” population, and cognitive decline is common in the elderly. There is no cure for dementia, and pharmacotherapy options to treat cognitive ...dysfunction provide limited symptomatic improvements. Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha), a popular herb highly valued in Ayurvedic medicine, has often been used to aid memory and cognition. This systematic review thus aimed to evaluate the clinical evidence base and investigate the potential role of W. somnifera in managing cognitive dysfunction. Using the following keywords withania somnifera OR indian ginseng OR Ashwagandha OR winter cherry AND brain OR cognit* OR mental OR dementia OR memory, a comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO and Clinicaltrials.gov databases found five clinical studies that met the study's eligibility criteria. Overall, there is some early clinical evidence, in the form of randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind trials, to support the cognitive benefits of W. somnifera supplementation. However, a rather heterogeneous study population was sampled, including older adults with mild cognitive impairment and adults with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder. In most instances, W. somnifera extract improved performance on cognitive tasks, executive function, attention, and reaction time. It also appears to be well tolerated, with good adherence and minimal side effects.
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