Many psychiatric illnesses have been linked to the gut microbiome, with supplements such as probiotics showing some efficacy in alleviating the symptoms of some psychiatric illnesses. The aim of this review is to evaluate the current literature investigating the effects of adjuvant probiotic or synbiotic administration in combination with first-line treatments for psychiatric illnesses.
A systematic search of four databases was conducted using key terms related to treatments for psychiatric illnesses, the gut microbiome, and probiotics. All results were then evaluated based on specific eligibility criteria.
Eight studies met eligibility criteria and were analyzed for reported changes in outcome measures used to assess the symptoms of psychiatric illness and the tolerability of treatment. All Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) (
The findings of the studies included in this review suggest the use of adjuvant probiotic treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for MDD and GAD to be superior to SSRI treatment alone. Probiotic adjuvant treatment with antipsychotics could be beneficial for improving the tolerability of the antipsychotics, but these findings do not suggest that adjuvant probiotic treatment would result in improved clinical outcomes for symptoms of schizophrenia.