A post-hoc analysis has confirmed that Cerebiome can significantly increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) serum levels in humans, as was observed several years ago in preclinical models.
In 2018, Kazemi et al. followed 110 adults suffering from mild to moderate depression. They found that Cerebiome, used as an adjunct therapy to conventional antidepressant treatment, had contributed to a significant reduction of Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) depression score from 18 down to 9 on average, and increased serotonin precursors after eight weeks of intake.
These results are clinically significant, showing the patients were now categorised with “minimal depression” according to the validated assessment scale. The Cerebiome group showed a decrease in the blood kynurenine/tryptophan ratio, which suggests that tryptophan was diverted toward the synthesis of serotonin (p<0.05) and away from the inflammatory pathway (p<0.05) compared to the placebo group.
Serum BDNF levels are lower in depressed patients and they increase after a long course of antidepressant treatment. In this post-hoc analysis, the investigators looked at the participants’ BDNF serum levels. Results show that the probiotic formula Cerebiome significantly increased BDNF levels compared to the placebo group (p=0.02) and to the prebiotic group (p<0.001), which inversely correlated with depression severity compared to placebo (p=0.012).
“This is a great example where the clinical trial observations matched the observations from the preclinical studies,” said Lucie Lingrand, Specialist of the brain-gut axis at Lallemand Health Solutions. “The increase of BDNF identified in animal model by Ait Belgnaoui in 2014, appeared to translate to humans. It may be one of the mechanisms of action by which Cerebiome reduces depression in humans, in addition to all the demonstrated modes of action to date.”
