REVIEW article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Gut-Brain Axis
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1570173
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in Gut-Brain Axis: Stress, dysregulation in gut-brain axis function and stress related disordersView all 10 articles
From the gut to the brain, mechanisms and clinical applications of γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) on the treatment of anxiety and insomnia
Provisionally accepted
- 1Center for Precision Medicine, School of Medicine and School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, China, Xiamen, China
- 2GeneYoung Biopharmaceuticals, Shenzhen, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Anxiety and insomnia are prevalent global mood disorders, and affect approximately 4 and 10 out of every 100 individuals, respectively. Common abnormal brain activity and altered neural circuitries are detected in patients with anxiety disorders and insomnia, suggesting overlapping pathogenesis in these two disorders. Promisingly, GABA from dietary supplements and GABA produced by gut microbiota have shown significant treatment effects in anxiety and insomnia. This review summarizes neurological mechanisms causing anxiety and insomnia, reveals cellular pathways transferring GABA from the gut to the brain, and delivers the therapeutic potential of gut derived GABA for anxiety and insomnia. Moreover, this review proposes emerging therapeutic strategies utilizing engineered GABAproducing bacteria to target anxiety and insomnia, and highlights the potential of live biotherapeutics as novel interventions for mood disorders.
Keywords: GABA, Anxiety, insomnia, Gut Microbiota, Probiotics, genetic engineered bacteria
Received: 03 Feb 2025; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiang, Chen and Sun. 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: Tao Sun, Center for Precision Medicine, School of Medicine and School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, China, Xiamen, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.