Researchers from Wuhan University stated that the bacterium K. aerogenes can cause depression in women before menopause.
Researchers from Wuhan University found that psycho-emotional state of women before menopause can be influenced by gut-related mechanisms.
In particular, after analyzing the gut microbiota of premenopausal women, the scientists found that estrodiol decreased by 77.8% in the group of subjects with depression. In the group without the disease, it decreased by only 19.3%. However, in both cases, the key changes were in the microbiome environment.
After injecting mice with a sample of the microbiome of depressed patients, scientists noticed that their estradiol levels decreased by 25%, and the rodents themselves fell into a state resembling depression.
Later, they found out that estradiol can be processed by Klebsiella aerogenes bacilli. After conducting experiments, experts concluded that it is K. aerogenes that lowers estradiol levels and causes depressive behavior.
But it was possible to relieve these symptoms with the antibiotic cefotaxime, writes Lenta.ru.