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The Probiotic Breakthrough for Anxiety Relief: How Gut Bacteria Influence Mental Health

2025-02-18 - 2025-02

Researchers have discovered that naturally occurring gut microbes produce indolescompounds that play a key role in regulating anxiety-related brain activity. This finding paves the way for next-generation therapies that use probiotic microbes to support mental health and potentially reduce anxiety symptoms.
Gut microbes influence brain pathways that regulate anxiety levels.
Certain microbes produce indoles, natural compounds that help alleviate anxiety.
Probiotic therapies using indole-producing microbes could offer a promising alternative treatment for anxiety and other mental health disorders.
Unlocking the Gut-Brain Connection
Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the National Neuroscience Institute have identified a significant link between gut microbes and anxiety-related behavior. Their newly published study in EMBO Molecular Medicine reveals that microbial metabolites specifically indoles directly influence brain activity associated with anxiety. This discovery opens the door to potential probiotic-based treatments that could support mental health.
Microbes and Anxiety: A Hidden Link
The research team thus set out to investigate the role microbes play in anxious behavior. In preclinical studies, the scientists observed that in a germ-free environment, those which were not exposed to live microbes, showed significantly more anxiety-related behavior than those with typical resident live microbes. Further investigation revealed that the increased anxiety was associated with heightened activity in a brain region involved in processing emotions such as fear and anxiety, the basolateral amygdala (BLA). This was further identified to be related to specialized proteins within brain cells known as the calcium-dependent SK2 channels, associated with anxiety behavior. In conditions when the body and brain are exposed to live microbe metabolites, the SK2 channels act like a clutch, thus preventing neurons from becoming overly excited and firing too frequently A Closer Look at Microbial Influence Associate Professor Shawn Je from Duke-NUS Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme and one of the lead authors, explained: Our findings reveal the specific and intricate neural process that links microbes to mental health. Those without any live microbes showed higher levels of anxious behavior than those with live bacteria. Essentially, the lack of these microbes disrupted the way their brains functioned, particularly in areas that control fear and anxiety, leading to anxious behavior.
Reintroducing Microbes to Reduce Anxiety
To better understand the role of microbes in this process, the researchers introduced live microbes into germ-free mice.[3] This reduced the elevated neuronal activity in the basolateral amygdala and thus SK2 channel activity. As a result, the mice showed significantly less anxiety-related behaviortheir emotional responses became like those exposed to microbes.

Supreme Court Directs Union To File Affidavits On Establishment And Functioning Of Central Mental Health Authority

2025-02-21 - 2025-02

The Supreme Court recently asked the Union Government to file a detailed affidavit indicating the establishment and functioning of the Central Mental Health Authority, State Mental Health Authority and Mental Health Review Board under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
The order was passed in a writ petition filed under Article 32, seeking certain directions with respect to the persons requiring mental healthcare. Since January 3, 2019, the Supreme Court has been passing directions in this writ petition.
On February 7, a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra was informed that the Parliament enacted the Mental Healthcare Act, which contemplates the establishment of these three authorities.
Taking this into consideration, the Court ordered:
"Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, learned Additional Solicitor General appears on behalf of the Union. We direct that Union of India shall file a detailed affidavit indicating the establishment and functioning of the Central Mental Health Authority, State Mental Health Authority and Mental Health Review Board. The affidavit shall also indicate the statutory and mandatory appointments to the authority and the review board. The said affidavit may be filed by 06.03.2025."
The Court will hear the matter on March 21.

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The Probiotic Breakthrough for Anxiety Relief: How Gut Bacteria Influence Mental Health

Supreme Court Directs Union To File Affidavits On Establishment And Functioning Of Central Mental Health Authority