益生菌能幫助抑郁癥嗎?新的研究表明兩者之間存在聯(lián)系

益生菌能幫助抑郁癥嗎?新的研究表明兩者之間存在聯(lián)系

A gut-wrenching experience. Butterflies in your stomach.

一種撕心裂肺的痛苦體驗。心里七上八下。

Many of us instinctively feel the connection between our gut and our brain. That connection and how the range of bacteria residing in our digestive tract -- our microbiome -- might help treat mental illness has become a field of interest for scientists in recent years.

我們很多人本能地感覺到我們的腸胃和大腦之間的聯(lián)系。近年來，科學(xué)家們對這種聯(lián)系以及在我們消化道中的細(xì)菌——我們的微生物群——可能有助于治療精神疾病而感興趣。

A new review of medical literature has suggested that probiotics -- foods or supplements containing microbes thought to exert a positive influence on our gut -- could help ease depression.

一項新的醫(yī)學(xué)文獻(xiàn)綜述表明，益生菌——含有被認(rèn)為對腸道有積極影響的微生物的食物或補充劑——可以幫助緩解抑郁。

"This is good quality research but it is a review of relatively preliminary data," Allan Young, a professor of mood disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, told the Science Media Centre in London.

“這是一項高質(zhì)量的研究，但它只是對相對初步數(shù)據(jù)的綜述，”倫敦國王學(xué)院精神病學(xué)、心理學(xué)和神經(jīng)科學(xué)研究所情緒障礙教授艾倫·楊告訴倫敦科學(xué)媒體中心。

"So while this systematic review of the research literature supports the notion that probiotics may be helpful for people with anxiety and depression, more research is needed. These data do make a case for larger trials to be carried out," said Young, who wasn't involved in the review.

“因此，雖然這項對研究文獻(xiàn)的系統(tǒng)回顧支持了這樣一個觀點，即益生菌可能對焦慮和抑郁的人有幫助，但還需要更多的研究。這些數(shù)據(jù)確實為開展更大規(guī)模的試驗提供了依據(jù)，”楊說，他沒有參與審查。

The researchers from the University of Brighton and Croydon University Hospital in the United Kingdom looked at 71 studies published between 2003 and 2019 that looked at how probiotics, and prebiotics, compounds that help probiotics flourish, may help adults with depression and/or anxiety disorders.

來自英國布萊頓大學(xué)和克羅伊登大學(xué)醫(yī)院的研究人員調(diào)查了2003年至2019年間發(fā)表的71項研究，這些研究著眼于益生菌和益生元(有助于益生菌生長的化合物)如何幫助患有抑郁癥和(或)焦慮癥的成年人。

The researchers said their review had several caveats: None of the included studies lasted very long; and the number of participants in each was small.

研究人員表示，他們的綜述有幾點注意事項:包括在內(nèi)的研究都沒有持續(xù)很長時間，而且每個項目的參與者都很少。

This made it difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the overall effects, how long they lasted and whether there might be any unwanted side effects associated with prolonged use, they said.

他們說，這使得很難就整體效果、持續(xù)時間以及是否有任何與長期使用相關(guān)的副作用得出明確的結(jié)論。

David Curtis, a retired consultant psychiatrist and an honorary professor at University College London, said that it was unlikely that probiotics would have an effect on mood.

退休的精神病顧問和倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院的名譽教授大衛(wèi)·柯蒂斯說，益生菌不太可能對情緒產(chǎn)生影響。

"Although these published studies claim to show some benefits of probiotics on depression, we have no idea whether there were other studies which showed no effect which were not published," he told the SMC.

他告訴SMC:“盡管這些已發(fā)表的研究聲稱益生菌對抑郁癥有一些好處，但我們不知道是否還有其他沒有發(fā)表的研究表明益生菌沒有效果。”

"People with depression should seek medical advice and not try to treat themselves with dietary supplements, which are not of proven benefit."

“抑郁癥患者應(yīng)該尋求醫(yī)療建議，而不是試圖用膳食補充劑來治療自己，因為這并沒有被證明是有益的。”

The review, which published on Monday in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, said exactly how probiotics could ease depression was unknown, but the researchers suggested the effect could be twofold.

周一發(fā)表在《英國醫(yī)學(xué)雜志營養(yǎng)、預(yù)防和健康》上的這篇綜述稱，益生菌究竟能如何緩解抑郁癥還不得而知，但研究人員表示，其效果可能是雙重的。

Firstly, probiotics may help reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals, such as cytokines, or they may help direct the action of tryptophan, a chemical thought to be important in the gut-brain axis in psychiatric disorders.

首先，益生菌可能有助于減少炎癥性化學(xué)物質(zhì)的產(chǎn)生，比如細(xì)胞因子，或者它們可能有助于指導(dǎo)色氨酸的作用，色氨酸被認(rèn)為是一種在精神疾病的腸-腦軸中很重要的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。

Secondly, people with depression also often have other underlying conditions, such as impaired insulin production and irritable bowel syndrome, and probiotics may influence how a person experiences depression by alleviating these conditions.

其次，抑郁癥患者通常還有其他潛在的疾病，比如胰島素分泌受損和腸易激綜合癥，益生菌可以通過緩解這些疾病來影響人們對抑郁癥的感受。

However, the case for the use of probiotics in the treatment of digestive disorders isn't clear.

然而，使用益生菌治療消化系統(tǒng)疾病的情況尚不清楚。