Have you ever heard of the gut microbiota? The bacterial population that lives in the intestine (which is therefore called “intestinal microbiota” or “intestinal flora”) constitutes the largest reservoir of bacteria in the body.
For several years, research has been paying close attention to these billions of bacteria that cohabit in our intestine: previous studies have already shown that an imbalance of the intestinal microbiota is associated with an increased risk of inflammatory bowel diseases ( IBD, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis), and an imbalance of the intestinal flora is also suspected in diabetes or obesity.
According to a recent study, conducted jointly by the Institut Pasteur, Inserm and the CNRS, an imbalance of the intestinal microbiota could also… promote the development of depression.
Can we cure depression with the help of “good” bacteria?
The researchers (who published their work this Friday, December 11, 2020 in the specialized journal NatureCommunications) worked from an animal model: they discovered that a change in the intestinal flora (caused, for example, by chronic stress) resulted in particular in a drop in blood and brain levels of lipid metabolites – these small molecules (also called “endogenous cannabinoids” or “endocannabinoids”) are derived from metabolism.
Problem : endocannabinoids are involved in managing emotions and forming memories. Thus, scientists have discovered that when endocannabinoids are no longer present in the hippocampus (a key region of the brain for memories and emotions), a depressive state occurs.
Good news : if the French researchers found that it was enough to transfer “from the microbiota of an animal with mood disorders to a healthy animalto make the latter depressive, the reverse is also true.
Thus, they showed that with an oral treatment containing the deficient bacteria in the microbiota of people suffering from a depressive state, it is possible to restore a normal level of lipid metabolites and, consequently, to treat the depressive state. A new avenue of treatment for depression, this disease which affects 264 million people worldwide? We hope so.
Source: press release Inserm, CNRS and Institut Pasteur.
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