Mice and connection between gut, mood
DEAR DOCTOR: My office is big on birthday cakes, group lunches and homemade treats. I’ve gained almost 20 pounds and have started feeling low. My mom says it’s because of my gut bacteria. Is that true?
With DEAR the rise READER: in research into the billions of microorganisms that live in our intestines, it can seem that all of the workings of the human body eventually lead to the gut. We already know that our gut bacteria play a significant role in countless bodily processes. The ones we understand the best at this time have to do with metabolism and immune function. But as results of new research becomes increasingly emerge, it clear that the gut/body/ mind connection is both complex and far-reaching. A number of these studies, which have explored whether the gut microbiome can affect how people think and feel, have made persuasive cases that there may indeed be a connection.
With that in mind, the idea of the that colonies the composition of microbiome could have an effect on mood doesn’t seem like such a stretch. And that turns out to be the takeaway from one of the newer studies, conducted by researchers from the Joslin Diabetes Center of the Harvard Medical School. In a paper published in June in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, they came to some intriguing conclusions about what happens to the gut microbiome when its host — that’s you and me — has a sudden weight gain brought on by a highfat diet.
The researchers began with mice that became obese after eating a highfat diet. This increase in body weight and body fat triggered a spike in depression and anxiety. The next step was to dose the mice with antibiotics in their drinking water, which altered their gut microbiomes. The result was a return to normal behavior patterns.
While this experiment further opens a door into our understanding of the gut-mood connection, it’s not meant as a prescriptive for humans. When the researchers achieve their next stated goal, to identify the specific microbes involved, we’ll be a step closer to understanding the specifics of the mood/ microbiome connection.
Elizabeth Ko, M.D., is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA.