Ashmitha Reddy ¹, Nitya Mankal ¹, Yogitha N Sagar ¹, Joice K. Joseph ¹, Panagal Mani ², Senthilkumar Rajagopal¹*

¹Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Sciences, REVA University, Bengaluru, KA, India
²Department of Biochemistry, Annai Group of Institutions, Kumbakonam, TN, India

*Corresponding Author: Senthilkumar Rajagopal, Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Sciences, REVA University, Bengaluru, KA, India.

Received: November 19, 2024; Published: December 14, 2024

Abstract

Psychobiotics are a special novel class of probiotics that significantly affect treating neuropsychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurodegenerative disorders, leading researchers towards mining psychobiotics to evolve novel biomedicine and biotherapeutics in neuroscience. Psychobiotics also known as neurochemical-producing microbial biofactories, vary from conventional probiotics in their ability to produce or stimulate the production of every neurotransmitter, short-chain fatty acids, enteroendocrine hormones, anti-inflammatory cytokines, and chemokines. In current research, Psychobiotics are potential venues for improving the bidirectional communication between central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract defined as microbiota gut brain axis. The accumulating evidence elucidates consumption of pharmacological psychotropic drugs as treatment options for maintaining neurological health is often associated with life-threatening endocrine and metabolic side effects. Within this perspective the use of microorganisms with psychobiotic properties has gained attention in the scientific community in recent years. Through the evidence of clinical trials, the beneficial effects and efficacy of psychobiotics in treating neurological disorders are becoming clearer. The formulation of novel psychobiotic-based neuropsychiatric biotherapeutics is much anticipated which will open up a completely new avenue for tailored medication and healthcare in mental health. However, such clinical investigations remain challenging at present in terms of design and target populations. In this review work, we focused on the existing evidence supporting the role of psychobiotics in ameliorating neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, and neurodevelopmental disorders, scope and advancements made in the field, highlighting the challenges and knowledge gaps connected with conducting scientific investigations to answer unresolved key question in the field.

Keywords: Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor; Gut-Brain Axis; Mental Illness; Prebiotics; Psychobiotics

References

1. Thakur AK and Ubaid T. "Therapeutic potential and recent development of psychobiotics for the management of brain disorders”. Trends in Applied Sciences Research 14 (2019): 70-79.
2. Tremblay A., et al. "The effects of psychobiotics on the microbiota-gut-brain axis in early-life stress and neuropsychiatric disorders”. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry105 (2021): 110142.
3. Murciano-Brea J., et al. "Gut microbiota and neuroplasticity”. Cells8 (2021): 2084.
4. Sharma R., et al. "Psychobiotics: The next-generation probiotics for the brain”. Current Microbiology78 (2021): 449-463.
5. Warner BB. "The contribution of the gut microbiome to neurodevelopment and neuropsychiatric disorders”. Pediatric Research2 (2019): 216-224.
6. Vogt NM., et al. "Gut microbiome alterations in Alzheimer’s disease”. Scientific Reports1 (2017): 13537.
7. Misra S and Debapriya M. "Psychobiotics: a new approach for treating mental illness?”. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition8 (2019): 1230-1236.
8. Cussotto S., et al. "Psychotropics and the microbiome: a chamber of secrets…”. Psychopharmacology5 (2019): 1411-1432.
9. Johnson D., et al. "A microbial-based approach to mental health: the potential of probiotics in the treatment of depression”. Nutrients6 (2023): 1382.
10. Bastiaanssen T FS and John FC. "The microbiota-gut-brain axis in mental health and medication response: parsing directionality and causality”. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology3 (2021): 216-220.
11. Cheng Y., et al. "Short-chain fatty acids-producing probiotics: A novel source of psychobiotics”. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition28 (2022): 7929-7959.
12. Morais LH., et al. "The gut microbiota–brain axis in behaviour and brain disorders”. Nature Reviews Microbiology4 (2021): 241-255.
13. Del Toro-Barbosa., et al. "Psychobiotics: mechanisms of action, evaluation methods and effectiveness in applications with food products”. Nutrients12 (2020): 3896.
14. , et al. "Psychobiotics: A Newer Approach Toward the Treatment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders”. Advances in Probiotics. Academic Press, (2021): 203-216.
15. Heidarzadeh-Rad., et al. "Effects of a psychobiotic supplement on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in depressive patients: a post hoc analysis of a randomized clinical trial”. Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility4 (2020): 486.
16. , et al. "Clinical and metabolic response to probiotic supplementation in patients with multiple sclerosis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial”. Clinical Nutrition36.5 (2017): 1245-1249.
17. , et al. "An 8-week administration of Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus plantarum combined with exercise training alleviates neurotoxicity of Aβ and spatial learning via acetylcholine in Alzheimer rat model”. Journal of Molecular Neuroscience71 (2021): 1495-1505.
18. Wang T., et al. "A phase II randomized trial of sodium oligomannate in Alzheimer’s dementia”. Alzheimer's Research and Therapy12 (2020): 1-10.
19. Bonfili L., et al. "Gut microbiota manipulation through probiotics oral administration restores glucose homeostasis in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease”. Neurobiology of Aging87 (2020): 35-43.
20. Tamtaji OR., et al. "Probiotic and selenium co-supplementation, and the effects on clinical, metabolic and genetic status in Alzheimer's disease: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial”. Clinical Nutrition6 (2019): 2569-2575.
21. Lee J., et al. "Gut microbiota–derived short-chain fatty acids promote poststroke recovery in aged mice”. Circulation Research4 (2020): 453-465.
22. Daliri EBM., et al. "Psychobiotics; a promise for neurodevelopmental therapy”. Journal of Probiotics Health4 (2016): 1e4.
23. Collins J., et al. "Intestinal microbiota influence the early postnatal development of the enteric nervous system”. Neurogastroenterology and Motility1 (2014): 98-107.
24. Burokas A., et al. "Microbiota regulation of the mammalian gut–brain axis”. Advances in Applied Microbiology91 (2015): 1-62.
25. Zhou L and Foster JA. "Psychobiotics and the gut–brain axis: in the pursuit of happiness”. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (2015): 715-723.
26. Wang J., et al. "Gut-microbiota-derived metabolites maintain gut and systemic immune homeostasis”. Cells5 (2023): 793.
27. Simpson CA., et al. "The gut microbiota in anxiety and depression–a systematic review”. Clinical Psychology Review83 (2021): 101943.
28. Bermúdez-Humarán LG., et al. "From probiotics to psychobiotics: live beneficial bacteria which act on the brain-gut axis”. Nutrients4 (2019): 890.
29. Bray NJ and O'Donovan MC. "The genetics of neuropsychiatric disorders”. Brain and Neuroscience Advances2 (2018): 2398212818799271.
30. Merrick MT., et al. "Adverse childhood experiences increase risk for prescription opioid misuse”. The Journal of Primary Prevention2 (2020): 139-152.
31. Targum SD and Nemeroff CB. "The effect of early life stress on adult psychiatric disorders”. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience1-2 (2019): 35.
32. Cowan CSM., et al. "Early-life stress, microbiota, and brain development: probiotics reverse the effects of maternal separation on neural circuits underpinning fear expression and extinction in infant rats”. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience37 (2019): 100627.
33. McVey Neufeld KA., et al. "Neurobehavioural effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG alone and in combination with prebiotics polydextrose and galactooligosaccharide in male rats exposed to early-life stress”. Nutritional Neuroscience6 (2019): 425-434.
34. Liao JF., et al. "Lactobacillus paracasei PS23 reduced early-life stress abnormalities in maternal separation mouse model”. Beneficial Microbes4 (2019): 425-436.
35. Wei CL., et al. "Antidepressant-like activities of live and heat-killed Lactobacillus paracasei PS23 in chronic corticosterone-treated mice and possible mechanisms”. Brain Research1711 (2019): 202-213.
36. Peng HH., et al. "Probiotic treatment restores normal developmental trajectories of fear memory retention in maternally separated infant rats”. Neuropharmacology153 (2019): 53-62.
37. Cowan CSM and Richardson R. "Early‐life stress leads to sex‐dependent changes in pubertal timing in rats that are reversed by a probiotic formulation”. Developmental Psychobiology5 (2019): 679-687.
38. Misiak B., et al. "The HPA axis dysregulation in severe mental illness: Can we shift the blame to gut microbiota?”. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry102 (2020): 109951.
39. Fried EI. "The 52 symptoms of major depression: Lack of content overlap among seven common depression scales”. Journal of Affective Disorders208 (2017): 191-197.
40. Rudzki L., et al. "Probiotic Lactobacillus Plantarum 299v decreases kynurenine concentration and improves cognitive functions in patients with major depression: A double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled study”. Psychoneuroendocrinology100 (2019): 213-222.
41. Wang Q., et al. "Effects of Lactobacillus plantarum on the intestinal morphology, intestinal barrier function and microbiota composition of suckling piglets”. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition6 (2019): 1908-1918.
42. Kazemi A., et al. "Effect of probiotic and prebiotic vs placebo on psychological outcomes in patients with major depressive disorder: A randomized clinical trial”. Clinical Nutrition2 (2019): 522-528.
43. Kazemi A., et al. "Effect of probiotic and prebiotic versus placebo on appetite in patients with major depressive disorder: post hoc analysis of a randomised clinical trial”. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics1 (2020): 56-65.
44. Heidazardeh-Rad N., et al. "Effects of a psychobiotic supplement on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in depressive patients: a post hoc analysis of a randomized clinical trial”. Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility4 (2020): 486. 
45. Romijn AR., et al. "A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum for the symptoms of depression”. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry8 (2017): 810-821.
46. Mohammadi G., et al. "Probiotic mixture of Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175 attenuates hippocampal apoptosis induced by lipopolysaccharide in rats”. International Microbiology22 (2019): 317-323.
47. Liu JCW., et al. "The gut microbiome in schizophrenia and the potential benefits of prebiotic and probiotic treatment”. Nutrients4 (2021): 1152.
48. Nierenberg A A., et al. "Diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder: a review”. JAMA14 (2023): 1370-1380.
49. Cheng LH., et al. "Psychobiotics in mental health, neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders”. Journal of Food and Drug Analysis3 (2019): 632-648.
50. Zhu G., et al. “Probiotics for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis”. Foods 7 (2021): 1672.

Citation

Citation: Senthilkumar Rajagopal., et al. “Comprehensive Review on Psychobiotics: The Next-Generation Microbial Biomedicine and Biotherapeutics". Acta Scientific Microbiology 8.1 (2025): 55-65.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Senthilkumar Rajagopal., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.