Do probiotic species need to colonize the gut to influence the gut-brain axis/mood?

March 21, 2018

Typically, probiotics do not colonize the gut but instead have a beneficial effect through communication and interaction with microbes, immune cells, and our gastrointestinal tract as they transit through. Probiotics, like the commensal bacteria in our intestine, ferment components of our diet and gut-derived metabolites such as short chain fatty acids, mainly acetate, butyrate, and proprionate, interact locally on other microbes and influence gut homeostasis and physiology, but also can act remotely to have health benefits.