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REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1664800

This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Gut Microbes and Their Metabolites in Metabolic Diseases: Mechanisms and Therapeutic TargetsView all 20 articles

Gut Microbiota as a Novel Target for Treating Anxiety and Depression: From Mechanisms to Multimodal Interventions

Provisionally accepted
Ruohan  ZhangRuohan Zhang1Ruting  WangRuting Wang1HongXi  WuHongXi Wu1Zhenjin  HuangZhenjin Huang1Jiale  LiangJiale Liang1Rongxin  ZhangRongxin Zhang2Feng  JiangFeng Jiang2*Yuanbo  SongYuanbo Song2*
  • 1Graduate School, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, Guangxi, China, Nanning, China
  • 2Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The global prevalence of depression and anxiety continues to rise, with major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders estimated to affect approximately 3.1% and 4.8% of the world's population. Yet current pharmacological treatments demonstrate limited efficacy. This limitation has spurred extensive research into alternative treatment methods. Emerging evidence highlights a complex correlation between gut microbiota (GM) imbalance and mental health disorders. Disruptions in GM may trigger or exacerbate symptoms of anxiety and depression by interfering with communication pathways between the gut and brain. These pathways include neural signaling through the vagus nerve, hormone regulation via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, immune responses involving pro-inflammatory cytokines, and metabolic processes related to short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Preclinical studies and initial clinical trials indicate promising results for therapeutic interventions targeting gut microbiota. Given that current evidence remains constrained by insufficient depth of understanding regarding underlying mechanisms, this review explores the intricate interactions among the gut microbiota, and brain, highlighting opportunities for advanced therapeutic approaches, focusing on on probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, synbiotics, dietary modifications, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), fecal virus transplantation (FVT), and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It elucidates the role of gut microbiota in depression/anxiety and advances therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: Gut Microbiota, Depression, Anxiety, Microbiota-gut-brain axis, intervention

Received: 14 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wang, Wu, Huang, Liang, Zhang, Jiang and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Feng Jiang, jiangfengdoc2023@163.com
Yuanbo Song, 275787349@qq.com

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