Impending Mental Health Issues During Coronavirus Disease 2019 – Time for Personalized Nutrition Based on the Gut Microbiota to Tide Over the Crisis?

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major pandemic facing the world today caused by SARS-CoV-2 which has implications on our mental health as well. The uncertain future, fear of job loss, lockdown and negative news all around have taken a heavy toll on the mental health of individuals from across the world. Stress and anxiety can affect the COVID-19 patients even more. Recent study suggests COVID-19 infection may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Certain prebiotics and probiotics have been shown to have anxiolytic effect through gut microbiota modulation. Incidentally, preliminary report also suggests a differential microbial profile in COVID-19 patients as compared to healthy individuals. Gut microbiota’s role in anxiety and depression is well studied. The importance of the “gut-brain” axis has been implicated in overall mental health. It is known that diet, environmental factors and genetics play an important role in shaping gut microbiota. Trials may be initiated to study if personalized diet and supplementation based on individual’s gut microbiome profile may improve the general mental well-being of people prone to anxiety during this pandemic. Also, COVID-19 patients may be provided personalized nutritional therapy based on their gut microbiota profile to see if PTSD and anxiety symptoms can be alleviated.

Microbiota based personalized nutrition improves hyperglycaemia and hypertension parameters and reduces inflammation: a prospective, open label, controlled, randomized, comparative, proof of concept study

“…Modulating gut microbiota through dietary interventions such as prebiotics and probiotics have shown promising results in improving disease conditions ( Campaniello et al, 2023 ; He & Shi, 2017 ). Propositions have also been made to modulate diet to improve the efficacy of treatment of COVID-19, anxiety and depression ( Dhar & Mohanty, 2020 ; Dhar, 2022 ). In this study we evaluated the efficacy and safety of a personalized gut microbiota specific nutritional intervention utilizing next generation sequencing based profiling of the individual gut microbiota.…”

Microbiota based personalized nutrition improves hyperglycaemia and hypertension parameters and reduces inflammation: A prospective, open label, controlled, randomized, comparative, proof of concept study

“…Modulating gut microbiota through dietary interventions such as prebiotics and probiotics have shown promising results in improving disease conditions 77,78 . Propositions have also been made to modulate diet to improve the efficacy of treatment of Covid19, anxiety and depression 79,80 . In this study we evaluated the efficacy and safety of a personalized gut microbiota specific nutritional intervention utilizing next generation sequencing based profiling of the individual gut microbiota.…”

The Effect of COVID-19 on Gut Microbiota: Exploring the Complex Interplay and Implications for Human Health

“…Several studies show stressful events induced depression and anxiety, and they disrupted the gut microbiome. This gut dysbiosis persisted for at least 6 months [86].…”

“…There is evidence that shows that intestinal microbial dysbiosis has a role in the pathogenesis of IBD [107]. Dysbiosis in systemic disease involves metabolic disorders and metabolic diseases such as obesity or T2D [108], immune disorders [109], and mental health disorders [86].…”