Research paper
Effect of Probiotic Supplementation on Gut Microbiota in Patients with Major Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review
Study answer
What this study found
Probiotic supplementation showed limited short-term effects on gut microbiota and only modest effects on depressive symptoms in major depressive disorder. Most studies did not find significant changes in gut microbiota composition after four to eight weeks of intervention. In Chahwan 2019, gut microbiota composition was similar across groups, although cognitive reactivity was significantly reduced in the probiotic group (p = 0.04). Overall, the evidence suggests possible small benefits but not a robust microbiome effect.
- Study & population
- Systematic review of seven studies in adults with major depressive disorder across multiple countries.
- Intervention
- Across the included studies, probiotic regimens varied by strain, product, and duration.
- Key limitation
- The evidence was limited by small study sizes, short intervention durations, and heterogeneous probiotic strains, formulations, and regimens.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
There is accumulating evidence on the beneficial effects of probiotic supplementation for patients with depressive disorders. However, prior reviews on the topic have largely focused on clinical effectiveness with limited emphasis on the underlying m…