Source: University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Researchers
from Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Cleveland
Medical Center (UH), BIOHM Health LLC, and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA
Medical Center have published a paper in the Frontiers of Nutrition, proposing a hypothesis and theory about a microbiome-driven approach to combating depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In
their paper, Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, Ph.D., FAAM, FIDSA, and colleagues,
write that significant stressors brought about and exacerbated by
COVID-19 are associated with startling surges in mental health
illnesses, specifically those related to depressive disorders.
Within
a one-month period at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
researchers write that there was a reported 34.1 percent increase in
prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications, an 18.6 percent increase in
antidepressant prescriptions, and a 14.8 percent increase in common
anti-insomnia drugs including prescribed anti-insomnia medications in
the United States.
“During
such a short period of time, this steep rise hints at the magnitude of
COVID-19’s immediate and widespread effect on mental health,” said Dr.
Ghannoum, director of the Center for Medical Mycology at UH and
professor of dermatology and pathology at the Case Western Reserve
University School of Medicine.
In
their paper, published Aug. 24, Dr. Ghannoum and colleagues examined
the current literature surrounding the microbiome and gut-brain axis to
advance a potential complementary approach to address depression and
depressive disorders that have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The
impact of the human gut microbiome on emotional health is a newly
emerging field,” said Dr. Ghannoum. “While more research needs to be
conducted, the current evidence is extremely promising and suggests at
least part of the answer to understanding depression in more depth may
lie within the microbiome.”
The
microbiome is defined as the collective genomes of the microbes
(composed of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses) that live inside and
on the human body, but primarily in the human gut. Scientists are
learning that these microbes play a significant role in health and
disease.
Studies
also suggest the microbiome impacts our brain and emotions. The gut
microbiome and the brain communicate with each other through neural,
inflammatory, and hormonal signaling pathways. As a result of the
two-way interaction between the gut microbiome and the brain, each can
send messages that impact the other.
Dr.
Ghannoum and colleagues propose that a microbiome-based holistic
approach, which involves carefully annotating the microbiome and
potential modification through diet, probiotics, and lifestyle changes,
may address depression.
“Despite
the toll that depression has on both individuals and society,
understanding and effectively treating depressive disorders is
difficult,” Dr. Ghannoum said. “Current research addressing the
diagnosis and treatment of depression and mood disorders is ongoing, but
needs more time to develop the complexities involved how to treat
them.”
He
said some studies have shed light on the potential correlation between
COVID infection and microbiome disturbance, but have limitations that
require further investigations with larger sample sizes to approximate
the general population.