Pre-Gestational intake of Lactobacillus helveticus NS8 has anxiolytic effects in adolescent Sprague Dawley offspring

Probiotic effects on anxiety-like behavior in animal models

Gut microbiota have been shown to be useful in treating gastrointestinal diseases, cancer, obesity, infections, and, more recently, neuropsychiatric conditions such as degenerative diseases and depression. There has also been recent expansion in testing probiotics and prebiotics on anxiety-like behaviors in animals. Current results indicate that probiotic substances of the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium type are effective in reducing anxiety-like behaviors in mice or rats evaluated in the elevated plus-maze, the open-field, the light-dark box, and conditioned defensive burying. Probiotics are also effective in reducing serum or plasma corticosterone levels after acute stress. It is hypothesized that probiotics cause anxiolytic-like effects via vagal influences on caudal solitary nucleus, periaqueductal gray, central nucleus of the amygdala, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Further experimentation is needed to trace the neurochemical anatomy underlying anxiolytic-like behaviors of gut microbiata exerting effects via vagal or nonvagal pathways.

Modifying the maternal microbiota alters the gut-brain metabolome and prevents emotional dysfunction in the adult offspring of obese dams

Maternal obesity disturbs brain-gut-microbiota interactions and induces negative affect in the offspring, but its impact on gut and brain metabolism in the offspring (F1) are unknown. Here, we tested whether perinatal intake of a multispecies probiotic could mitigate the abnormal emotional behavior in the juvenile and adult offspring of obese dams. Untargeted NMR-based metabolomic profiling and gene-expression analysis throughout the gut-brain axis were then used to investigate the biology underpinning behavioral changes in the dams and their offspring. Prolonged high-fat diet feeding reduced maternal gut short-chain fatty acid abundance, increased markers of peripheral inflammation, and decreased the abundance of neuroactive metabolites in maternal milk during nursing. Both juvenile (postnatal day [PND] 21) and adult (PND112) offspring of obese dams exhibited increased anxiety-like behavior, which were prevented by perinatal probiotic exposure. Maternal probiotic treatment increased gut butyrate and brain lactate in the juvenile and adult offspring and increased the expression of prefrontal cortex PFKFB3, a marker of glycolytic metabolism in astrocytes. PFKFB3 expression correlated with the increase in gut butyrate in the juvenile and adult offspring. Maternal obesity reduced synaptophysin expression in the adult offspring, while perinatal probiotic exposure increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Finally, we showed that the resilience of juvenile and adult offspring to anxiety-like behavior was most prominently associated with increased brain lactate abundance, independent of maternal group. Taken together, we show that maternal probiotic supplementation exerts a long-lasting effect on offspring neuroplasticity and the offspring gut-liver-brain metabolome, increasing resilience to emotional dysfunction induced by maternal obesity.

Maternal Intake of Probiotics to Program Offspring Health

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Probiotics intake may be considered beneficial by prospective and pregnant mothers, but their effects on offspring development are incompletely understood. The purpose of this review was to examine recent pre-clinical and clinical studies to understand how maternal probiotics exposure affects offspring health outcomes.

RECENT FINDINGS

Effects were investigated in the context of supporting offspring growth, intestinal health, and gut microbiota, preventing allergic diseases, supporting neurodevelopment, and preventing metabolic disorders in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Most human studies focused on infancy outcomes, whereas pre-clinical studies also examined outcomes at adolescence and young adulthood. While still understudied, both pre-clinical and clinical studies propose epigenetic modifications as an underlying mechanism. Optimal timing of intervention remains unclear. Administration of selected probiotics to mothers has programming potential for sustaining life-long health of offspring. Administration protocols, specific windows of susceptibility, and individual-specific responses need to be further studied.

Association between dietary satisfaction and depression, anxiety and stress in obese and overweight patients during the coronavirus pandemic

BACKGROUND & AIM

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a global health threat. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between D-Sat and depression, anxiety and stress in obese patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study in 228 obese and overweight women on a weight loss diet was conducted through the use of two questionnaires. General characteristics, anthropometric indices, D-Sat and mental status were assessed in these patients.

RESULTS

The greatest weight loss (WL) and waist circumference (WC) change was associated with the highest tertile of the D-Sat score in the first four months of the coronavirus pandemic (P < 0.05). Participants with the highest tertile of all D-sat score compared to those with the lowest had an 84% decrease in odds of depression. The highest tertile was also associated with decreased odds of anxiety (OR: 0.32 95%CI: 0.14; 0.68) The adjusted odds of stress score were negatively associated to the highest tertile of the D-Sat score (OR: 0.09, 95%CI (0.03, 0.23). WL was inversely related to stress (P < 0.05). Participants with higher WL and WC reduction had fewer depressive symptoms (P < 0.05). Sleep time and family income were associated with obesity.

CONCLUSIONS

D-Sat and positive personal and family dynamics can improve the mental status of obese and overweight patients during quarantine.

Maternal microbial factors that affect the fetus and subsequent offspring

The maternal microbiome has emerged as an important area of investigation. While birth is a critical timepoint for initial colonization of the newborn, the fetus resides in the womb surrounded by multiple unique colonized niches. The maternal microbiome has recently been shown to be associated with several morbidities in offspring. Understanding the multiple bacterial niches within the pregnant woman and how they interact with the fetus in-utero can lead to novel therapies to improve the health of offspring. In this review, we provide an overview of the available literature on normal bacterial colonization within the individual niches of the pregnant woman and the known associations with outcomes in offspring, including a discussion of the controversy of in-utero colonization.

Psychobiotic interventions for anxiety in young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis, with youth consultation

The human gut microbiome influence on brain function and mental health is an emerging area of intensive research. Animal and human research indicates adolescence as a sensitive period when the gut-brain axis is fine-tuned, where dietary interventions to change the microbiome may have long-lasting consequences for mental health. This study reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of microbiota-targeted (psychobiotics) interventions on anxiety in youth, with discussion of a consultation on the acceptability of psychobiotic interventions for mental health management amongst youth with lived experience. Six databases were searched for controlled trials in human samples (age range: 10-24 years) seeking to reduce anxiety. Post intervention outcomes were extracted as standard mean differences (SMDs) and pooled based on a random-effects model. 5416 studies were identified: 14 eligible for systematic review and 10 eligible for meta-analysis (total of 324 experimental and 293 control subjects). The meta-analysis found heterogeneity I² was 12% and the pooled SMD was -0.03 (95% CI: -0.21, 0.14), indicating an absence of effect. One study presented with low bias risk, 5 with high, and 4 with uncertain risk. Accounting for risk, sensitivities analysis revealed a SMD of -0.16 (95% CI: -0.38, 0.07), indicative of minimal efficacy of psychobiotics for anxiety treatment in humans. There is currently limited evidence for use of psychobiotics to treat anxiety in youth. However, future progress will require a multidisciplinary research approach, which gives priority to specifying mechanisms in the human models, providing causal understanding, and addressing the wider context, and would be welcomed by anxious youths.

Pre-Gestational intake of Lactobacillus helveticus NS8 has anxiolytic effects in adolescent Sprague Dawley offspring

INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a period of heightened susceptibility to anxiety disorders. Probiotic supplementation had a positive impact on reducing anxiety. The maternal microbiome plays an important role in child health outcomes and in the establishment of the offspring microbiome. Few studies have investigated the impact of gestational probiotic supplementation on the offspring's anxiety.

METHODS

The present study examined the impact of prenatal Lactobacillus helveticus NS8 supplementation (LAC) on Sprague Dawley rat offspring's anxiety-like behavior. The behaviors tested in the present study include the elevated plus maze (EPM), the open field test (OFT), and prepulse inhibition (PPI). Analyses of variance were utilized.

RESULTS

(a) The performance of LAC adolescent rats in the EPM was similar to that in the OFT, both of which reflect that LAC caused an antianxiety effect in adolescent offspring rats and the antianxiety effect without sex differences; (b) LAC did not change performance in PPI and did not change the sex and age differences in PPI; and c. LAC decreased the body mass of rat offspring.

CONCLUSION

Lactobacillus helveticus NS8 supplementation during gestation might have a moderate antianxiety effect in both males and females (especially adolescents) and be helpful for avoiding excessive body mass.