ReviewFrontiers in microbiology2023
Deciphering psychobiotics' mechanism of action: bacterial extracellular vesicles in the spotlight.
Review in Frontiers in microbiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness of Psychobiotics in the Treatment of Psychiatric and Cognitive Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Gut-brain axis in health and brain disease.Chinese medical journal · 2026Review
- Postbiotics as a Therapeutic Tool in Depression: Exploring into Molecular Pathways and Neuroprotective Effects.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- The Role of Extracellular Vesicles as Diagnostic Tools in Gut-Brain Axis Disorders.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Probiotics in Human Health: Current Evidence, Mechanism of Action, and Future Perspectives.International journal of microbiology · 2026Review
- Molecular mechanisms of gut microbiota dysbiosis and metabolites in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis: implications for precision therapeutics.Molecular brain · 2025Review
- Gut Microbiome as a Source of Probiotic Drugs for Parkinson's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Psychobiotics in Aquaculture: Harnessing the Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis for Stress Management and Production Enhancement in Fish.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Unveiling the Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Antidepressants: A Systematic Review of Human Studies over the Last Decade.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Gut microbiota and their influence in brain cancer milieu.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2025Review
- Utilization of Probiotic-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Postbiotics and Their Role in Mental Health Therapeutics.Food science of animal resources · 2024Review
- Human Gut Microbiota for Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Gut-Brain Axis: Focus on Sex Differences in Neuroinflammation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- The influence of the gut-brain axis on anxiety and depression: A review of the literature on the use of probiotics.Journal of traditional and complementary medicine · 2024Review
- Neuroinflammation and Schizophrenia: New Therapeutic Strategies through Psychobiotics, Nanotechnology, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Review
- The Impact of Early-Life Cecal Microbiota Transplantation on Social Stress and Injurious Behaviors in Egg-Laying Chickens.Microorganisms · 2024Review
- Possible application ofMicrobiome research reports · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The intake of psychobiotic bacteria appears to be a promising adjunct to neuropsychiatric treatment, and their consumption may even be beneficial for healthy people in terms of mental functioning. The psychobiotics' mechanism of action is largely outlined by the gut-brain axis; however, it is not fully understood. Based on very recent studies, we provide compelling evidence to suggest a novel understanding of this mechanism: bacterial extracellular vesicles appear to mediate many known effects that psychobiotic bacteria exert on the brain. In this mini-review paper, we characterize the extracellular vesicles derived from psychobiotic bacteria to demonstrate that they can be absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, penetrate to the brain, and carry the intracellular content to exert beneficial multidirectional action. Specifically, by regulating epigenetic factors, extracellular vesicles from psychobiotics appear to enhance expression of neurotrophic molecules, improve serotonergic neurotransmission, and likely supply astrocytes with glycolytic enzymes to favor neuroprotective mechanisms. As a result, some data suggest an antidepressant action of extracellular vesicles that originate even from taxonomically remote psychobiotic bacteria. As such, these extracellular vesicles may be regarded as postbiotics of potentially therapeutic application. The mini-review is enriched with illustrations to better introduce the complex nature of brain signaling mediated by bacterial extracellular vesicles and indicates knowledge gaps that require scientific exploration before further progress is made. In conclusion, bacterial extracellular vesicles appear to represent the missing piece of the puzzle in the mechanism of action of psychobiotics.
Indexed as
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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.