Shocking Link: Gut Bacteria Hold the Key to Anxiety Relief! 

United States: The natural gut microbes deliver compounds called indoles, which serve as important regulators for the brain’s responses to anxiety, revealed the experts. 

The finding would pave the way for future treatments based on probiotic microbes to support mental health functions and potentially treat anxiety symptoms. 

More about the finding 

Medical researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School and the National Neuroscience Institute found strong evidence that shows gut microbial presence affects anxiety-related behavioral responses. 

Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery that creates possibilities for developing probiotic treatments dedicated to mental health support. 

The number of mental health disorders continues to increase throughout recent years, scitechdaily.com reported. 

Research conducted across the entire country revealed depression and anxiety impact 1 out of 7 adults in Singapore. The medical group rated these disorders as the four main contributors to disease burden across Singapore in 2019.

Identification of Microbes and Anxiety link 

The research team executed a study to examine the part that microbes perform in triggering anxious behavior. 

The researchers conducted preclinical experiments to find that germ-free mice that lived without exposure to live microbes demonstrated higher anxiety-related behavioral patterns when compared to mice with typical resident live microbes. 

Brain area investigations showed increased basolateral amygdala (BLA) activity, which corresponded with heightened anxiety in mice. 

Experts statements 

According to associate Professor Shawn Je from Duke-NUS’ Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme and one of the lead authors, “Our findings reveal the specific and intricate neural process that links microbes to mental health. Those without any live microbes showed higher levels of anxious behavior than those with live bacteria. Essentially, the lack of these microbes disrupted the way their brains functioned, particularly in areas that control fear and anxiety, leading to anxious behavior,” scitechdaily.com reported. 

The scientists conducted further research about microbial involvement in this phenomenon by administering live microorganisms to mice kept in sterile conditions. 

The introduction of live microbes decreased activity in the basolateral amygdala, therefore preventing SK2 channel overactivation. 

Through microbial intervention, the research mice developed emotionally reduced anxiety behavior from that which normally occurs in germ-free subjects. 

Furthermore, as Professor Sven Pettersson from the Department of Research, National Neuroscience Institute of Singapore, who is also a lead author of the study, suggested, “Establishing hunger signals and controlling hunger is an evolutionarily conserved defense mechanism. The physiological switch at birth can, therefore, be viewed as the first major wave of anxiety exposure for the newborn, which simply says, “If you don’t eat, you will die.” 

“Additionally, birth is associated with exposure to breast milk, known to contain microbes that can produce molecules known as indoles. Indoles are known to be secreted in plants when they are exposed to stress or malnutrition (draught), and in this paper, we report a similar mechanism in which indoles can regulate anxiety levels in mammals. That is, different levels of circulating microbial plasma indoles in the blood may reflect different sensitivity and vulnerability to stressful situations and therefore variable risk of experiencing anxiety-related situations.”