2024-01-01 04:55:00
Александр Полепкин Social anxiety is partly caused by our intestinal flora.
Alexander Polepkin
HEALTH – The end of year celebrations are an ordeal for some. For people with social anxiety disorders, these moments are indeed among the most difficult to get through. If the origin of these problems is still not clearly identified and seems to be a mix of several factors, a new element has just been discovered.
A study published on December 26 in the journal PNAS suggests that the microbes making up the gut flora are a factor that can cause social anxiety. Scientists have discovered that the gut microbiome (the collection of bacteria and other organisms living in the digestive system) is not the same in people with social anxiety disorder compared to those without it. not reached.
This discovery echoes an entire field of current research, which highlights the influence of this intestinal microbiome. For example, some studies have found that these microbes can influence the brain, and vice versa.
Anxiety, mice and poop
To carry out this study, Doctor John Cryan and his colleagues from the University of Cork in Ireland took fecal samples from six healthy people and six people with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). DNA analyzes confirmed that the gut microbiome differed significantly between the two groups.
To demonstrate the link between these microscopic life forms and these health problems, the researchers tried to make mice socially anxious. More precisely, they transplanted certain microorganisms into mice, after having first killed their intestinal microbes using antibiotics.
The mice then underwent various tests to analyze their behavior. The results revealed that mice that received gut microbes from people with ASD had different levels of three bacterial species in their stool than those that received gut microbes from healthy people.
The importance of the microbiome
While mice with gut microbes from healthy people quickly regained their curiosity about strangers in the days that followed, those with microbes from people with ASD continued to be afraid of approaching others mouse. “They never fully recovered to be able to be social again”declared the scientist at Guardian.
Further analysis suggested that levels of certain hormones and aspects of the immune system also differed between mice. This is not the first time that this type of experience has taken place. This study builds on other work showing similar results for conditions such as depression or irritable bowel syndrome.
“The main point is that we need to take care of our microbes, especially throughout development and even into adulthood, for the social brain to function properly”said Professor John Cryan.
This new discovery offers new avenues when it comes to developing therapies for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A new avenue of work is indeed to include diets designed to modify the microbiome.
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