Association between the dynamics of the gut microbiota and responsiveness to mental health therapy

Abstract Growing evidence suggests that the intestinal microbiota may influence brain activity through metabolites and/or inflammation, but it is unclear whether the impact of psychological interventions such as meditation is connected to the dynamics of gut microbiota. In the presented study, we collected gut microbiota and plasma cytokine, chemokine, and growth factor data from a longitudinal cohort of 52 people (142 multi-omics samples) before, during, and after a nine-day meditation. We identified a strong relationship between the mental health status and the composition of gut microbiota. High level of bacteria genus Prevotellais correlated with improved meditation effects in stressed persons. In addition, a number of inflammatory cytokines, such as GROA, are significantly reduced in the Prevotella-dominating individuals. Following nine days of meditation, there is a decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines, an increase in relative abundance of Prevotella, and an improvement in individual’s mental health measurements. Our study provides a novel link towards the possibility that the gut microbiota affects the level of stress through regulating cytokines.