The complex relationship between gut microbiota dysregulation and mood disorders: A narrative review

Gut microbiota regulates neurotransmission, neurogenesis, neuroinflammation, and neuroendocrine signaling. The aim of the present review is to analyze the literature concerning gut microbiota dysregulation and mood symptoms, with the specific hypothesis that such alterations play a role in the onset of mood disorders. Here, in fact, we review recent research focusing on how gut microbiota dysregulation influences the onset of mood disorders and on possible pathophysiological mechanisms involved in this interaction. We pay specific attention to the relationship between gut microbiota dysregulation and inflammatory state, Th17 differentiation, neuroactive factors, and TRP metabolism. The association between gut microbiota dysregulation and mood disorders is critically analyzed under a clinical point of view, also focusing on the emergence of mood symptoms in the context of medical conditions. These latter correlations may enable an interdisciplinary perspective in the clinical approach to such symptoms, as well as new treatment strategies, such as nutritional interventions, psychobiotics, antibiotics, as well as fecal microbiota transplantation.