Gut–Brain Axis in Mood Disorders: A Narrative Review of Neurobiological Insights and Probiotic Interventions

Aug 28, 2025Biomedicines

How Gut Health and Brain Function Relate to Mood Disorders and the Role of Probiotics

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Abstract

Several probiotic strains have shown potential anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in preclinical studies.

Probiotics may modulate mood and anxiety through the gut-brain axis.
Effects are potentially linked to the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA).
Probiotics could influence the synthesis of neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA.
There is a possible connection between probiotics and the modulation of systemic inflammation.
Standardization issues in dosing and strain selection may limit clinical applicability.
Further large-scale clinical studies are needed to clarify the therapeutic role of probiotics in mental health.

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The gut microbiota and its interaction with the nervous system through the gut-brain axis (MGB) have been the subject of growing interest in biomedical research. It has been proposed that modulation of microbiota using probiotics could offer a promising therapeutic alternative for mood regulation and the treatment of anxiety and depression disorders. The findings indicate that several probiotic strains, such asand, have demonstrated anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in pre and clinical studies. These effects seem to be mediated by the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), the synthesis of neurotransmitters such as serotonin (5-HT) and Gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA), as well as the modulation of systemic inflammation. However, the lack of standardization in dosing and strain selection, in addition to the scarcity of large-scale clinical studies, limit the applicability of these findings in clinical therapy. Additional research is required to establish standardized therapeutic protocols and better understand the role of probiotics in mental health. The aim of this narrative review is to discuss the relationship between the gut microbiota and the MGB axis in the context of anxiety and depression disorders, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms, as well as the preclinical evidence for the effect of probiotics in modulating these disorders. In this way, an exhaustive search was carried out in scientific databases including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science. Preclinical research evaluating the effects of different probiotic strains in animal models during chronic treatment was selected, excluding those studies that did not provide access to the full text. Lactobacillus Bifidobacterium

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Gut–Brain Axis in Mood Disorders: A Narrative Review of Neurobiological Insights and Probiotic Interventions

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