Brittany L Mason1. 1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. Electronic address: brittany.mason@utsouthwestern.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Physical and mental health is dependent on the environment, and feeding is a prime example of this environmental exchange. While the hypothalamus controls both feeding behavior and the stress response, the integration of the neural control centers and the peripheral gut allows for disruption in the gastrointestinal systems and dysfunctional communication to the brain. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review is to familiarize clinicians with the physiology controlling feeding behavior and its implications for psychiatric conditions, such as anorexia nervosa and depression. Growing understanding of how integrated bacterial life is in the body has shown that gut bacteria regulate basic physiologic processes and are implicated in various disease states and contribute to regulation of mood. Responses to stress have effects on feeding behavior and mood and the regulation of the stress response by the gut microbiota could contribute to the dysfunction seen in patients with psychiatric illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: Gut microbiota may contribute to dysfunction in psychiatric illnesses. New opportunities to modulate existing gut microbiota using probiotics could be novel targets for clinical interventions.
BACKGROUND: Physical and mental health is dependent on the environment, and feeding is a prime example of this environmental exchange. While the hypothalamus controls both feeding behavior and the stress response, the integration of the neural control centers and the peripheral gut allows for disruption in the gastrointestinal systems and dysfunctional communication to the brain. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review is to familiarize clinicians with the physiology controlling feeding behavior and its implications for psychiatric conditions, such as anorexia nervosa and depression. Growing understanding of how integrated bacterial life is in the body has shown that gut bacteria regulate basic physiologic processes and are implicated in various disease states and contribute to regulation of mood. Responses to stress have effects on feeding behavior and mood and the regulation of the stress response by the gut microbiota could contribute to the dysfunction seen in patients with psychiatric illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: Gut microbiota may contribute to dysfunction in psychiatric illnesses. New opportunities to modulate existing gut microbiota using probiotics could be novel targets for clinical interventions.
Authors: Ligia de Oliveira Carlos; Marilia Rizzon Zaparolli Ramos; Nathalia Ramori Farinha Wagner; Lineu Alberto Cavazani de Freitas; Ingrid Felicidade; Antonio Carlos Ligocki Campos Journal: Arq Bras Cir Dig Date: 2022-06-24