The Impacts of The Intestinal Microbiome on The Development of Depression and Its Mechanisms

Abstract

Depression is a chronic mental disease that seriously harms human health and has a variety of complications. A rising body of evidence indicated that communication between intestinal microorganisms and their hosts potentially play an important role in disease and health concerns. Intestinal flora exists in human digestive tract and is abundant, as well as a significant environmental component in the transformation of human physiology. Dysregulation of intestinal flora is related to depression, and its mechanism includes hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, inflammatory response, monoamine neurotransmitter imbalance, neurotrophic factor imbalance, cross-reaction mechanism and so on. This paper summarizes the mechanism and influence of intestinal microflora in depression in recent years, so as to provide some reference for revealing the mechanism of depression.