Phytotherapy of mood disorders in the light of microbiota-gut-brain axis

Maciej Korczak; Maciej Pilecki; Sebastian Granica; Aleksandra Gorczynska; Karolina A Pawłowska; Jakub P Piwowarski

doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2023.154642

Phytotherapy of mood disorders in the light of microbiota-gut-brain axis

Phytomedicine. 2023 Mar:111:154642. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2023.154642. Epub 2023 Jan 4.

Authors

Maciej Korczak¹, Maciej Pilecki², Sebastian Granica¹, Aleksandra Gorczynska¹, Karolina A Pawłowska¹, Jakub P Piwowarski³

Affiliations

¹ Microbiota Lab, Department of Pharmacognosy and Molecular Basis of Phytotherapy, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
² Department of Psychiatry, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland.
³ Microbiota Lab, Department of Pharmacognosy and Molecular Basis of Phytotherapy, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: jpiwowarski@wum.edu.pl.

PMID: 36641978
DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2023.154642

Abstract

Background: Clinical research in natural product-based psychopharmacology has revealed a variety of promising herbal medicines that may provide benefit in the treatment of mild mood disorders, however failed to unambiguously indicate pharmacologically active constituents. The emerging role of the microbiota-gut-brain axis opens new possibilities in the search for effective methods of treatment and prevention of mood disorders.

Purpose: Considering the clinically proven effectiveness juxtaposed with inconsistencies regarding the indication of active principles for many medicinal plants applied in the treatment of anxiety and depression, the aim of the review is to look at their therapeutic properties from the perspective of the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Method: A literature-based survey was performed using Scopus, Pubmed, and Google Scholar databases. The current state of knowledge regarding Hypericum perforatum, Valeriana officinalis, Piper methysticum, Passiflora incarnata, Humulus lupulus, Melissa officinalis, Lavandula officinalis, and Rhodiola rosea in terms of their antimicrobial activity, bioavailability, clinical effectiveness in depression/anxiety and gut microbiota - natural products interaction was summarized and analyzed.

Results: Recent studies have provided direct and indirect evidence that herbal extracts and isolated compounds are potent modulators of gut microbiota structure. Additionally, some of the formed postbiotic metabolites exert positive effects and ameliorate depression-related behaviors in animal models of mood disorders. The review underlines the gap in research on natural products - gut microbiota interaction in the context of mood disorders.

Conclusion: Modification of microbiota-gut-brain axis by natural products is a plausible explanation of their therapeutic properties. Future studies evaluating the effectiveness of herbal medicine and isolated compounds in treating mild mood disorders should consider the bidirectional interplay between phytoconstituents and the gut microbiota community.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Microbiota; Microbiota-gut-brain axis; Mood disorders.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biological Products*
Brain-Gut Axis
Herbal Medicine / methods
Phytotherapy / methods
Plants, Medicinal*

Substances

Biological Products