Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36844651›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in behavioral neuroscience2023

Systematic review of probiotics as an adjuvant treatment for psychiatric disorders.

Evan Forth, Benjamin Buehner, Ana Storer, Cassandra Sgarbossa, Roumen Milev, Arthi Chinna Meyyappan

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

28 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  18. Current research in food science · 2025
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Human Gut Microbiota for Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Evan ForthDepartment of Psychiatry, Providence Care Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Benjamin BuehnerCentre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Ana StorerCentre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Cassandra SgarbossaDepartment of Psychiatry, Providence Care Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Roumen MilevDepartment of Psychiatry, Providence Care Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Arthi Chinna MeyyappanDepartment of Psychiatry, Providence Care Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Many psychiatric illnesses have been linked to the gut microbiome, with supplements such as probiotics showing some efficacy in alleviating the symptoms of some psychiatric illnesses. The aim of this review is to evaluate the current literature investigating the effects of adjuvant probiotic or synbiotic administration in combination with first-line treatments for psychiatric illnesses. Method: A systematic search of four databases was conducted using key terms related to treatments for psychiatric illnesses, the gut microbiome, and probiotics. All results were then evaluated based on specific eligibility criteria. Results: Eight studies met eligibility criteria and were analyzed for reported changes in outcome measures used to assess the symptoms of psychiatric illness and the tolerability of treatment. All Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) ( Discussion and conclusion: The findings of the studies included in this review suggest the use of adjuvant probiotic treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for MDD and GAD to be superior to SSRI treatment alone. Probiotic adjuvant treatment with antipsychotics could be beneficial for improving the tolerability of the antipsychotics, but these findings do not suggest that adjuvant probiotic treatment would result in improved clinical outcomes for symptoms of schizophrenia.

Indexed as

adjuvant therapygut-brain-axisgut-brain-axis probioticsMajor Depressive Disorderprobioticspsychiatric illnesspsychotropics

Identifiers

PMID36844651
PMCPMC9947154

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.