Study: Intestinal flora affects mental health status

For a long time, the intestine was dismissed as a mere digestive tube. But now researchers are dedicating themselves to this eight-metre-long organ. Located at the body’s core, the “intestinal brain” extends to influence both our emotional world and our thinking. The relationship between the metabolism of the microbiome (intestinal flora) and the psyche is certainly one of the most fascinating topics in microbiome research. In recent years, increasing evidence has shown that mental illnesses are associated with altered intestinal flora. This has now been confirmed by a study on individuals suffering depression published in the Nature Microbiology Journal in 2019.

The relationship between the metabolism of our intestinal flora and our mental health is one of the most gripping yet controversial topics in microbiome research. Although only a fraction of intestinal microorganisms have been researched, we do know about the close interaction between the microbiome, the intestine, and the brain. Intestinal bacteria not only influence our emotions and thoughts to a certain extent but probably also influence some diseases (from depression to autism). These, in turn, are reflected in an altered composition of the microbiome. However, it is not yet clear what came first: the chicken or the egg. In other words: whether changes in intestinal flora trigger the disease or the disease changes the intestinal flora. While the relationship between intestinal flora, intestine, and brain has already been investigated in several animal models, specific human studies on the subject are still lacking.