Some of the most common and debilitating conditions are metabolic disorders (metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) and depression. These conditions are also exacerbated by the fact that they often co-occur. Although the exact mechanisms underlying such relationships are poorly known, antipsychotic medication and antidepressant use, diet and physical activity, and lifestyle factors are believed to play a role; however, their high co-occurrence rate suggests a possible pathophysiological overlap. This paper reviews several possible bases for this overlap, including hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation, immune alterations with chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress. While it is entirely possible that changes in the microbiota may play a role in each of them, interventions based on the implementation of dietary and other lifestyle changes, supplementation with prebiotics or probiotics and faecal microbiota transplantation have failed to achieve conclusive results. A better characterization of the above associations may allow a more targeted approach to the treatment of both depressive and metabolic disorders. The paper also presents several practical applications for future studies.
Keywords: depression; hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; inflammation; metabolic syndrome; microbiota; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; oxidative stress.