PILOT STUDY OF THE BRAIN-GUT AXIS IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AS A PRELUDE TO RESEARCH ON DEPRESSION

The brain-gut axis plays an important role in cognitive regulation and is a key research area in depression. Studies in healthy individuals may serve as a preliminary step before investigating clinical populations.
The study aimed to evaluate the effect of probiotic supplementation compared to placebo, followed by 12 sessions of sociotherapy, on cognitive functions in healthy individuals.
The study included 18 healthy women aged 20-54, randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to the probiotic (Sanprobi Stress, SANPROBI Sp. z. o.o.) or the placebo group. Cognitive function was assessed using the Trail Making Test (TMT) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and adrenaline levels were measured (Stress Print, Cambridge Diagnostics Sp. z. o.o.). Assessments were performed before supplementation, after supplementation, and after completing sociotherapy. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 10 (USA).
In part A of the TMT test, a reduction (p<0.05) in completion time was observed after probiotic supplementation and sociotherapy compared to baseline values. At the same time, the group receiving probiotics had lower (p<0.05) adrenaline levels after sociotherapy than before probiotic supplementation. In part B of the TMT and MoCA tests, no statistically significant changes were observed after the interventions, but the results obtained were better compared to the baseline measurements.
The preliminary results are promising and suggest that probiotic supplementation combined with sociotherapy may influence selected neurobiological indicators and cognitive functions in healthy individuals, justifying further research in patients with depression. Supported by the National Centre for Research and Development, Grant No. POLTAJ11/2023/58/DEPRESSIO/2024.