The effect of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health, gut microbiota composition and serum cortisol levels

Lacticaseibacillus paracasei PS23 increases ghrelin levels and modulates microbiota composition: a post-hoc analysis of a randomized controlled study

Muscle damage can occur due to excessive, high-intensity, or inappropriate exercise. It is crucial for athletes and sports enthusiasts to have access to ways that expedite their recovery and alleviate discomfort. Our previous clinical trial demonstrated the anti-inflammatory and muscle damage-ameliorating properties of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei PS23 (PS23), prompting us to further explore the role of this probiotic in muscle damage recovery. This post-hoc analysis of a randomized controlled study investigated potential mediators between the intake of PS23 and the prevention of strength loss after muscle damage. We recruited 105 students from a sports university who had participated in the previously published clinical trial. These participants were randomly allocated to three groups, receiving capsuled live PS23 (L-PS23), heat-treated PS23 (HT-PS23), or a placebo over a period of six weeks. Baseline and endpoint measurements were taken for the levels of circulating ghrelin and other blood markers, stress, mood, quality of life, and the fecal microbiota. A significant increase in ghrelin levels was recorded in the L-PS23 group compared to the other groups. Additionally, both L-PS23 and HT-PS23 interventions led to positive shifts in the gut microbiota composition, particularly in elevated Lacticaseibacillus, Blautia, and Lactobacillus populations. The abundance of these bacteria was positively correlated with exercise performance and inversely correlated with inflammatory markers. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with PS23 may enhance exercise performance and influence muscle damage by increasing ghrelin levels and modulating the gut microbiota composition. Further clarification of the possible mechanisms and clinical implications is required.

A cross talk on the role of contemporary biomarkers in depression

Introduction: Biomarkers can be used to identify determinants of response to various treatments of mental disorders. Evidence to date demonstrates that markers of inflammatory, neurotransmitter, neurotrophic, neuroendocrine, and metabolic function can predict the psychological and physical consequences of depression in individuals, allowing for the development of new therapeutic targets with fewer side effects. Extensive research has included hundreds of potential biomarkers of depression, but their roles in depression, abnormal patients, and how bioinformatics can be used to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis have not been determined or defined. To determine which biomarkers can and cannot be used to predict treatment response, classify patients for specific treatments, and develop targets for new interventions, proprietary strategies, and current research projects need to be tailored.Material and Methods: This review article focuses on - biomarker systems that would help in the further development and expansion of newer targets - which holds great promise for reducing the burden of depression.Results and Discussion: Further, this review point to the inflammatory response, metabolic marker, and microribonucleic acids, long non-coding RNAs, HPA axis which are - related to depression and can serve as future targets.

Prevalence of Obesity and Lifestyle Risk Factors Following Two Years' COVID-19 Related Service Closure at Wellness Center, Primary Health Care

Background

COVID-19 lockdown has affected health behaviors and daily life in unprecedented ways. This study aimed to assess (i) the prevalence of lifestyle behaviors including physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, and stress levels during the COVID confinement, and (ii) evaluate anthropometric measures, body composition, cardiopulmonary and muscular endurance among regular Wellness Center attendees, following two years' service closure.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was undertaken between 1st June 2022 and 30th January 2023. A structured validated questionnaire was utilized to retrospectively collect data related to the closure period, and quantitative objective measurements were obtained at the time of data collection.

Results

A total of 100 adults with a mean age of 49.6 ± 10.5 years, mostly female (80%) and Qatari (76%) participated in the study. The results revealed high rates of low physical activity (47%), sedentary behavior (62%), poor sleep (58%), and stress levels (61% moderate and 5% high). Results also confirmed high prevalence of obesity (57%) marked by BMI and body circumferences, fat mass (34 ± 10.5 kg)/fat percentage (42.7 ± 7.2%) and muscle mass (20.6 ± 5.4 kg)/muscle percentage (25.4 ± 3.9%) above and below normal levels, respectively. The average cardiopulmonary (mean VO2 MAX was 15.5 ± 11 mL O2kg-1min-1) and muscular endurance (pushups per min 19 ± 8.9, L-sit 46 ± 35 secs, plank 42.7 ± 27.8 secs) were distinctly below normal levels for age and sex.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that physically active adults have experienced adverse lifestyle behaviors during the COVID-19 lockdown. Obesity, unfavorable body composition, low cardiopulmonary and muscular endurance were evident. More emphasis should be put on the development of targeted intervention strategies to promote positive lifestyle behaviors during any potential future crises.

Helpful activities during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perceived benefits and actual association with psychiatric symptoms and psychological wellbeing

BACKGROUND

Few studies have rigorously examined the effectiveness of commonly reported coping activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was designed to assess perceived helpful activities during the pandemic and to investigate the extent to which these activities were associated with psychological outcomes.

METHOD

Adults living in the US (N = 204), who were part of a longitudinal family study of depression responded to an online survey. They reported on their perceived helpful activities during the pandemic. General linear regression models (GLM) were used to evaluate the association between perceived helpful activities and current psychiatric symptoms, controlling for demographic factors, and pre-pandemic psychiatric history and symptoms.

RESULTS

The top perceived helpful activity during COVID-19 was communicating with friends/family via telephone text or video (75.5 %). However, of the top five activities endorsed, cooking/baking was associated with the most clinical outcomes, including lower anxiety/depression and greater psychological wellbeing (all ps < 0.05). These relationships were most prominent among younger individuals < age 40 years, females, and those with recent psychiatric history, although they extended to younger males, and individuals at high or low depression risk.

LIMITATIONS

Close ended items limited variability in coping activities reported. The study lacked data on substance use. The sample was racially and ethnically homogenous.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings move beyond anecdotal evidence that cooking/baking as a coping activity yields protection against psychopathology. Its ready accessibility and ability to confer benefits across a range of individual characteristics, make it a useful adjunct in therapeutic interventions for people confined to their homes.

Could Gut Microbiota Composition Be a Useful Indicator of a Long-Term Dietary Pattern?

Despite the known effects of diet on gut microbiota composition, not many studies have evaluated the relationship between distinct dietary patterns and gut microbiota. The aim of our study was to determine whether gut microbiota composition could be a useful indicator of a long-term dietary pattern. We collected data from 89 subjects adhering to omnivorous, vegetarian, vegan, and low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet that were equally distributed between groups and homogenous by age, gender, and BMI. Gut microbiota composition was analyzed with a metabarcoding approach using V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene. K-means clustering of gut microbiota at the genus level was performed and the nearest neighbor classifier was applied to predict microbiota clustering classes. Our results suggest that gut microbiota composition at the genus level is not a useful indicator of a subject's dietary pattern, with the exception of a vegan diet that is represented by a high abundance of Prevotella 9. Based on our model, a combination of 26 variables (anthropometric measurements, serum biomarkers, lifestyle factors, gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological factors, specific nutrients intake) is more important to predict an individual's microbiota composition cluster, with 91% accuracy, than the dietary intake alone. Our findings could serve to develop strategies to educate individuals about changes of some modifiable lifestyle factors, aiming to classify them into clusters with favorable health markers, independent of their dietary pattern.

Targeting the Arginine Vasopressin V1b Receptor System and Stress Response in Depression and Other Neuropsychiatric Disorders

A healthy stress response is critical for good mental and overall health and promotes neuronal growth and adaptation, but the intricately balanced biological mechanisms that facilitate a stress response can also result in predisposition to disease when that equilibrium is disrupted. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis neuroendocrine system plays a critical role in the body's response and adaptation to stress, and vasopressinergic regulation of the HPA axis is critical to maintaining system responsiveness during chronic stress. However, exposure to repeated or excessive physical or emotional stress or trauma can shift the body's stress response equilibrium to a "new normal" underpinned by enduring changes in HPA axis function. Exposure to early life stress due to adverse childhood experiences can also lead to lasting neurobiological changes, including in HPA axis function. HPA axis impairment in patients with depression is considered among the most reliable findings in biological psychiatry, and chronic stress has been shown to play a major role in the pathogenesis and onset of depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Modulating HPA axis activity, for example via targeted antagonism of the vasopressin V_1b receptor, is a promising approach for patients with depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders associated with HPA axis impairment. Despite favorable preclinical indications in animal models, demonstration of clinical efficacy for the treatment of depressive disorders by targeting HPA axis dysfunction has been challenging, possibly due to the heterogeneity and syndromal nature of depressive disorders. Measures of HPA axis function, such as elevated cortisol levels, may be useful biomarkers for identifying patients who may benefit from treatments that modulate HPA axis activity. Utilizing clinical biomarkers to identify subsets of patients with impaired HPA axis function who may benefit is a promising next step in fine-tuning HPA axis activity via targeted antagonism of the V_1b receptor.

Psychobiotic supplementation of HK-PS23 improves anxiety in highly stressed clinical nurses: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study

Nurses often experience adverse health effects associated with increasing levels of work-related stress. Stress may induce systemic effects through the HPA axis, glucocorticoid responses, and inflammatory cascades. Psychobiotics may help alleviate stress through associations of the microbiota, anti-inflammation factors, and the gut-brain axis. We aimed to investigate whether interventions with a psychobiotic, heat-killed (HK)-PS23 cells, may help improve perceived stress, anxiety, and related biological markers among highly stressed clinical nurses. This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study included seventy clinical nurses from a medical center in Northern Taiwan who scored 27 or higher on the 10-item version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and participants were randomized into either taking HK-PS23 or a placebo for 8 weeks. Baseline and endpoint results of the PSS, Job Stress Scale, State and Trait Anxiety Index (STAI), emotional questionnaires, gastrointestinal severity questionnaires, Trails Marking Tests, blood biological markers, and sleep data were analyzed. While both groups demonstrated improvements in most measures over time, only the blood cortisol measure demonstrated significant group differences after the 8-week trial. Further analyses of the subgroup with higher anxiety (nurses with STAI ≥ 103) revealed that anxiety states had improved significantly in the HK-PS23 group but not in the placebo group. In summary, this placebo-controlled trial found significant reduction in the level of blood cortisol after 8 weeks of HK-PS23 use. The distinctive anxiolytic effects of HK-PS23 may be beneficial in improving perceived anxiety and stress hormone levels in female nurses under pressure. Clinical trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier: NCT04452253-sub-project 1.