Psychological Stress and Gut Microbiota Composition: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

Lu Ma; Yating Yan; Richard James Webb; Ying Li; Sanaz Mehrabani; Bao Xin; Xiaomin Sun; Youfa Wang; Mohsen Mazidi

doi:10.1159/000533131

Psychological Stress and Gut Microbiota Composition: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

Neuropsychobiology. 2023;82(5):247-262. doi: 10.1159/000533131. Epub 2023 Sep 6.

Authors

Lu Ma¹, Yating Yan², Richard James Webb³, Ying Li⁴, Sanaz Mehrabani⁵, Bao Xin⁶, Xiaomin Sun¹, Youfa Wang¹, Mohsen Mazidi^{7

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Affiliations

¹ Global Health Institute, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, China.
² Global Health Institute, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, China, yyt1147@126.com.
³ School of Health and Sports Sciences, Hope Park Campus, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
⁵ Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁶ School of Public Health, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China.
⁷ Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁸ Nuffield Department of Population Health, Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁹ Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, South Wing St Thomas', London, UK.

PMID: 37673059
DOI: 10.1159/000533131

Abstract

Introduction: The associations between psychological stress and gut microbiota composition are not fully understood. This study investigated associations between psychological stress and gut microbiota composition and examined the potential modifying effects of age, sex, and ethnicity on such associations.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Embase databases for studies published until November 2021 which examined associations between psychological stress and gut microbiota composition.

Results: During the search process, 10,790 studies were identified, and after screening, 13 met the eligibility criteria and were included. The median sample size was 70, and the median age of participants was 28.0 years. Most of the included studies did not report associations between measures of alpha- and beta diversity of the gut microbiota composition and psychological stress. A few studies reported that the Shannon index, Chao 1, Simpson index, and weighted UniFrac were negatively associated with psychological stress. Significant reductions in several taxa at the phyla-, family-, and genus-levels were observed in participants with higher psychological stress. At the phylum level, the abundance of Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia were negatively associated with psychological stress. At the family-level, no more than two studies reported associations of the same microbiota with psychological stress. At the genus level, the following results were found in more than two studies; psychological stress was negatively associated with the abundance of Lachnospira, Lachnospiraceae, Phascolarctobacterium, Sutterella, and Veillonella, and positively associated with the abundance of Methanobrevibacter, Rhodococcus, and Roseburia. However, it was not possible to determine the influence of age, sex, or ethnicity due to the limited studies included.

Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence that psychological stress is associated with changes in the abundance of the gut microbiota. Larger sample longitudinal studies are needed to determine the causal relationship between psychological stress and the gut microbiota.

Keywords: Gut microbiota composition; Human studies; Psychological stress; Systematic review.

Publication types

Systematic Review