ArticlePsychopharmacology2019
The role of microbiota and inflammation in self-judgement and empathy: implications for understanding the brain-gut-microbiome axis in depression.
Article in Psychopharmacology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Role of the Gut Microbiota in the Development and Progression of Major Depressive and Bipolar Disorder.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Altered Composition of Gut Microbiota in Depression: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- A Comprehensive Self-Management Program With Diet Education Does Not Alter Microbiome Characteristics in Women With Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Biological research for nursing · 2021Trial
- Cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment, part 2: from bench to bedside-and back: why candidate therapies for cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment fail to translate.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2026Review
- Investigating the relationship between gut microbiota and electrocortical signatures of feedback processing: an ERP study.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Joint Association of Depression and Sleep Duration With All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality: A Cross-Sectional Study With Inflammation Mediation Analysis.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Navigating mental health in space: gut-brain axis and microbiome dynamics.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2025Review
- Roles of benefit finding in psychological and inflammatory adjustments in persons with colorectal cancer: a prospective analysis on the multidimensionality of benefit finding.Psychology & health · 2025Article
- Biological, environmental, and psychological stress and the human gut microbiome in healthy adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The emerging roles of neuroactive components produced by gut microbiota.Molecular biology reports · 2024Review
- Changes in social environment impact primate gut microbiota composition.Animal microbiome · 2024Article
- Article
- Establishment and perturbation of human gut microbiome: common trends and variations between Indian and global populations.Gut microbiome (Cambridge, England) · 2024Review
- The intersection of social determinants of health, the microbiome, and health outcomes in immigrants: A scoping review.American journal of biological anthropology · 2024Article
- Self-compassion, but not compassion toward others, is associated with better physical health: A cross-sectional study.Schizophrenia research · 2023Article
- Fecal Microbiota Composition as a Metagenomic Biomarker of Dietary Intake.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Multidirectional associations between the gut microbiota and Parkinson's disease, updated information from the perspectives of humoral pathway, cellular immune pathway and neuronal pathway.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
- The role of gut microbiota in depression: an analysis of the gut-brain axis.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Review
- Reproducible microbiome composition signatures of anxiety and depressive symptoms.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2023Article
- Prophylactic Effect of Bovine Colostrum on Intestinal Microbiota and Behavior in Wild-Type and Zonulin Transgenic Mice.Biomedicines · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleThe gut-brain axis includes bidirectional communication between intestinal microbiota and the central nervous system. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus spp. have been implicated in psychological health, such as depression, through various pathways (e.g. inflammation). Research needs a better understanding of direct and indirect effects through examination of psychological factors that make people susceptible to, or offer protection against, depression.
objectiveThis study investigated the relationships between gut microbiota, inflammation and psychological risk and resilience factors for depression.
methodsForty participants (13 m/27 f) recruited from the general population completed self-report questionnaires for depression, self-judgement, over-identification and affective and cognitive empathy. Faecal and blood samples were taken to assay microbiota (Bifidobacterium; Lactobacillus spp.) and pro-inflammatory molecules (C-reactive protein, CRP and interleukin-6, IL-6), respectively.
resultsHierarchical regression analyses (controlling for sex, age and the shared variance of risk and resilience factors) showed that (i) cognitive depression was significantly predicted by negative self-judgement and reduced cognitive empathy; (ii) abundance of Lactobacillus spp. was directly related to positive self-judgement but only indirectly to cognitive depression and lower affective empathy (both through self-judgement); and (iii) CRP was the strongest predictor of reduced cognitive empathy, with suppression effects seen for age (negative) and IL-6 (positive) after controlling for CRP.
conclusionsFindings suggest that lactobacilli and inflammation may be differentially associated with mood disorder via brain mechanisms underpinning self-judgement and cognitive empathy, respectively. Further trials investigating interventions to increase Lactobacillus spp. in depression would benefit from direct measures of self-judgement and affective empathic distress, whilst those that aim to reduce inflammation should investigate cognitive empathy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.