Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Blalock 1105, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Blalock 1105, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
Brain Behav Immun. 2017 May;62:41-45. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2016.11.019. Epub 2016 Nov 18.
The molecules and pathways of the gut-brain axis represent new targets for developing methods to diagnose and treat psychiatric disorders. Manipulation of the gut microbiome with probiotics may be a therapeutic strategy with the potential to relieve gastrointestinal (GI) comorbidities and improve psychiatric symptoms. Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, commensal yeast species, can be imbalanced in the unhealthy human microbiome, and these fungal exposures were previously found elevated in schizophrenia. In a longitudinal, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot investigation of 56 outpatients with schizophrenia, we examined the impact of probiotic treatment on yeast antibody levels, and the relationship between treatment and antibody levels on bowel discomfort and psychiatric symptoms. We found that probiotic treatment significantly reduced C. albicans antibodies over the 14-week study period in males, but not in females. Antibody levels of S. cerevisiae were not altered in either treatment group. The highest levels of bowel discomfort over time occurred in C. albicans-seropositive males receiving the placebo. We observed trends towards improvement in positive psychiatric symptoms in males treated with probiotics who were seronegative for C. albicans. Results from this pilot study hint at an association of C. albicans seropositivity with worse positive psychiatric symptoms, which was confirmed in a larger cohort of 384 males with schizophrenia. In conclusion, the administration of probiotics may help normalize C. albicans antibody levels and C. albicans-associated gut discomfort in many male individuals. Studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to address the role of probiotics in correcting C. albicans-associated psychiatric symptoms.
肠道-大脑轴的分子和途径代表了开发用于诊断和治疗精神疾病的方法的新靶点。用益生菌操纵肠道微生物组可能是一种具有缓解胃肠道 (GI) 共病和改善精神症状潜力的治疗策略。共生酵母物种白色念珠菌和酿酒酵母在不健康的人类微生物组中可能失衡，并且这些真菌暴露先前在精神分裂症中发现升高。在一项针对 56 名精神分裂症门诊患者的纵向、双盲、安慰剂对照、初步研究中，我们研究了益生菌治疗对酵母抗体水平的影响，以及治疗和抗体水平与肠道不适和精神症状的关系。我们发现，益生菌治疗在 14 周的研究期间显著降低了男性的白色念珠菌抗体，但对女性没有影响。在任何治疗组中，酿酒酵母的抗体水平都没有改变。在接受安慰剂的白色念珠菌血清阳性男性中，肠道不适的水平随着时间的推移而升高。我们观察到，在对白色念珠菌血清阴性的男性进行益生菌治疗后，阳性精神症状有改善的趋势。这项初步研究的结果表明，白色念珠菌血清阳性与更严重的阳性精神症状有关，在 384 名男性精神分裂症患者的更大队列中得到了证实。总之，益生菌的给药可能有助于使许多男性的白色念珠菌抗体水平和白色念珠菌相关的肠道不适正常化。需要更大样本量的研究来解决益生菌在纠正白色念珠菌相关精神症状中的作用。
