they do survive gut transit, they may be devoid of health benefits.
In the 20th century, the major focus of microbiological research was on finding ways to kill microbes via antibiotics. This century the focus has changed somewhat, with a recognition of the health benefits of bacteria, not just from an immunity perspective but from a mental health one. Today, in richer nations, the impact of stress on health is perhaps as great as the threat from harmful bacteria. Psychobiotics have enormous potential.
This article appeared in print under the headline “A light on psychobiotics” Microbiota with personality
The transplantation of faecal microbes (FMT) from a healthy individual into a recipient has emerged as an effective treatment for life-threatening Clostridium difficile infection. The success of this approach has focused attention on FMT to treat gastrointestinal, immune and metabolic disorders, but could FMT be useful in treating neuropsychiatric conditions too?
Intriguingly, a 2011 study by researchers in Canada showed that anxious mice have different microbiota compared with normal mice, and that transplantation of their microbiota into the normal mice makes the normal mice anxious – and vice versa.
If such effects can be translated to humans they have marked implications for development of microbial-based therapies for mental disorders. It also means that would-be FMT donors may need to be screened for mental health issues as well as infectious disease. Profile
John Cryan is a professor of anatomy and neuroscience and Timothy Dinan is a professor of psychiatry, both at University College Cork in Ireland. They are principal investigators at UCC’s Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, focusing on the interaction between stress and the brain-gut axis in relation to depression, cognition and irritable bowel syndrome Issue 2953 of New Scientist magazine