AUTHOR=Li Nannan , Wang Qi , Wang Yan , Sun Anji , Lin Yiwei , Jin Ye , Li Xiaobai TITLE=Oral Probiotics Ameliorate the Behavioral Deficits Induced by Chronic Mild Stress in Mice via the Gut Microbiota-Inflammation Axis JOURNAL=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience VOLUME=12 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00266 DOI=10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00266 ISSN=1662-5153 ABSTRACT=

In recent years, a burgeoning body of research has revealed links between depression and the gut microbiota, leading to the therapeutic use of probiotics for stress-related disorders. In this study, we explored the potential antidepressant efficacy of a multi-strain probiotics treatment (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052, Lactobacillus plantarum R1012, and Bifidobacterium longum R0175) in a chronic mild stress (CMS) mouse model of depression and determined its probable mechanism of action. Our findings revealed that mice subjected to CMS exhibited anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors in the sucrose preference test, elevated plus maze, and forced swim test, along with increased interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 levels in the hippocampus. Moreover, the microbiota distinctly changed from the non-stress group and was characterized by highly diverse bacterial communities associated with significant reductions in Lactobacillus species. Probiotics attenuated CMS-induced anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors, significantly increased Lactobacillus abundance, and reversed the CMS-induced immune changes in the hippocampus. Thus, the possible mechanism involved in the antidepressant-like activity of probiotics is correlated with Lactobacillus species via the gut microbiota-inflammation-brain axis.