Prebiotic and probiotic supplementation and the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway: A systematic review and meta analysis.

Terry Purton, Lada Staskova, Melissa M Lane, Samantha L Dawson, Madeline West, Joseph Firth, Gerard Clarke, John F Cryan, Michael Berk, Adrienne O'Neil, Olivia Dean, Amir Hadi, Cynthia Honan, Wolfgang Marx

Journal: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2021;123():1-13

PMID: 33482244

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

This systematic review aimed to synthesise the results from studies investigating the effects of prebiotics and probiotics on kynurenine pathway metabolism. Thirteen studies were identified for inclusion, comprising 12 probiotic and two prebiotic arms. Participants included healthy individuals and individuals with various clinical conditions. Twelve metabolites were examined across the studies, using a range of biological samples. Across all interventions, 11 reported an effect on ≤ metabolite. Although limited by clinical and methodological heterogeneity, pooled analysis (n = 253) found probiotics to significantly affect serum kynurenine (g = 0.315, CI = 0.070 to 0.560, p = 0.012, 4 studies, I = 0%) and the kynurenine:tryptophan ratio (g = 0.442, CI = 0.074 to 0.810, p = 0.018, 4 studies, I = 42 %). Risk of bias across the studies was generally low. The results provide preliminary evidence that probiotics can modulate kynurenine pathway metabolism, with less evidence available regarding prebiotics. Future studies which further consider methodological confounds and sample characteristics are required, to establish intervention efficacy. PROSPERO registration #CRD42019154677.

Address: School of Psychological Sciences, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 1342, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Environmental & Genetic Epidemiology Research, Parkville, Australia; RMIT University, School of Science, Melbourne, Australia; Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Australia.; Deakin University, IMPACT - the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, Australia.; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Environmental & Genetic Epidemiology Research, Parkville, Australia; Deakin University, IMPACT - the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, Australia.; Division of Psychology and Mental Health, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, Australia.; Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science, and APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.; Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, and APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.; Deakin University, IMPACT - the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, Australia; Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre for Youth Mental Health, and the Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Australia.; Deakin University, IMPACT - the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, Australia; Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Australia.; Halal Research Center of IRI, FDA, Tehran, Iran.; School of Psychological Sciences, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 1342, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250, Australia.

DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.026

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MeSH Terms: Humans, Kynurenine, Prebiotics, Probiotics, Tryptophan