PROBIOTICS AND SOCIOTHERAPY MODULATE DOPAMINE AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN HEALTHY WOMEN: PILOT STUDY

Chronic stress in adults is associated with impaired cognitive functions and an increased risk of mood disorders. Interventions targeting psychosocial factors and the gut–brain axis may support stress adaptation. This pilot study, conducted in healthy women, evaluated short-term Sanprobi Stress (SANPROBI Sp. z o.o. Sp.) probiotic supplementation (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 + Bifidobacterium longum R0175) and sociotherapeutic program on verbal memory (RAVLT), screening cognitive functions (TYM), and dopamine in morning urine normalized to creatinine (Stress Print, Cambridge Diagnostics Sp. z. o. o.). Eighteen healthy women (aged 20-54 years) were randomly assigned in a double-blind design to receive probiotics or a placebo. Assessments were performed before supplementation, after supplementation, and after 12 sociotherapy sessions. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test or one-way ANOVA, GraphPad Prism 10.
Analysis of TYM scores showed that probiotic supplementation improved performance compared with baseline (p<0.05), with further improvement after sociotherapy. In the placebo group, scores did not change significantly after supplementation (p>0.05), but the combination of placebo and sociotherapy increased TYM scores (p<0.05). RAVLT scores were higher after sociotherapy in both groups (p<0.05), and urinary dopamine levels increased following sociotherapy compared with placebo (p<0.05), suggesting a neurochemical mechanism supporting cognitive enhancement. These findings indicate that sociotherapy may improve cognitive functions and dopamine levels, whereas probiotics alone did not differ from placebo (p>0.05). Results are preliminary; further gut microbiome analyses and studies in women with depression are ongoing.
The work was supported by grant no. POLTAJ11/2023/58/DEPRESSIO/2024 from the National Centre for Research and Development in Poland.