Table 1 Literature that informed the identification of select bacteria explored in association with stress domains.
From: Biological, environmental, and psychological stress and the human gut microbiome in healthy adults
Select bacteria | Article | Study description | Findings specific to select bacteria |
|---|---|---|---|
Lactobacillus | Aizawa et al., 2016 | Cross-sectional human study (N = 100; n = 43) comparing fecal microbiome samples of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) to healthy controls | Patients with MDD had lower Lactobacillus counts than healthy controls |
Messaoudi et al., 2011 | 30-day clinical trial of healthy adults (N = 55; n = 26) who were administered probiotic formula Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175 | Alleviated psychological distress in healthy adults compared to healthy controls | |
Kim et al., 2020 | Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus mucosae were isolated from healthy human feces and administered to mice (n = 7) | Oral gavage of E.coli caused depression in mice. Treatment with L.mucosae reduced E.coli induced depression | |
Akkermansia | Delgadillo et al., 2022 | Cross-sectional study of human toddlers (N = 77) using fecal microbiome samples | Akkermansia was associated with increased emotion regulation in children |
Ding et al., 2021 | Mice treated with Akkermansia muciniphila (AKK) for 3 weeks prior to chronic restraint stress (n = 6) | AKK treatment reduced depressive-like behaviors compared to untreated controls | |
Bifidobacterium | Aizawa et al., 2016 | Cross-sectional human study (N = 100; n = 43) comparing fecal microbiome samples of patients with MDD to healthy controls | Patients with MDD had significantly lower Bifidobacterium counts compared to controls |
Liu et al., 2016 | Cross-sectional human study (N = 100) comparing microbial composition (fecal samples) in IBS subgroups (n = 65), healthy controls (n = 20) and those with depression (n = 15) | Those with depression had significantly lower levels of Bifidobacterium compared to controls | |
Streptococcus | Gao et al., 2018 | Mice were exposed to chronic stress for one month (n = 4–5) | Relative to normal mice, stressed mice showed increased levels of inflammation promoting bacteria, including Streptococcus |
Nishida et al., 2019 | Japanese medical students (N = 60; n = 31) were randomly assigned to a placebo or probiotic treatment (1 tablet taken daily for 24 weeks) group prior to the national examination for medical practitioners. Fecal samples were collected pre and post treatment | Levels of Streptococcus were elevated in the placebo group compared to the control group | |
Escherichia/Shigella | Bashir et al., 2024 | Cross-sectional study of healthy adult women (N = 160) measuring symptoms of stress, depression, fecal, and vaginal microbiome | The relative abundance of Escherichia and Shigella were elevated in women with greater depression symptoms |
Chen et al., 2021 | Cross-sectional study of adult female patients (N = 108; n = 62) comparing fecal microbiome samples of patients with MDD to healthy controls | Patients with MDD had higher levels of Escherichia/Shigella than healthy controls | |
Clostridium | Bailey et al., 2011 | Mice (n = 5) were exposed to a 2-hour social defeat stressor for six days and cecal microbiota were assayed | Stressor exposure increased relative abundances of Clostridium |
Mullie et al., 2002 | Fecal microbiome samples were collected from healthy males (N = 10) six weeks prior to and during final examinations | A rise in Clostridium perfringens was observed during the examination period |
