Emerging role of Gut-microbiota-brain axis in depression and therapeutic implication.

The human body can be considered a superorganism in which it's eukaryotic cells and prokaryotic microorganisms coexist. Almost every organ system of the body lives a symbiotic life with these commensal bacteria. Intestinal microbiota has an important role in shaping, organizing and maintaining mental functions from as early as the intrauterine period. Microbiota-based approaches are becoming more prominent in understanding and treating the etiopathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders, especially depression. Antidepressant drugs, which are the first-line option in the treatment of depression today, also contain antimicrobial and immunomodulatory mechanisms of action. Treatment options for directly modifying the microbiota composition include prebiotics, probiotics (psychobiotics) and fecal microbiota transplantation. There are few preclinical and clinical studies on the efficacy and reliability of these treatment options in depression. This article will review pertinent studies on the role of intestinal microbiota in depression and discuss the treatment potential of altering ones gut microbiome.

Substance Abuse Profiles of Patients Admitted to the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research, Treatment, and Education Center in Turkey.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the substance abuse profiles of patients treated a Drug Addiction Research, Treatment, and Education Center (AMATEM) in association with the percentage of substance use distribution and multiple substance use in their urine samples. For this, we retrospectively evaluated the urine sample analysis reports of 600 male and female patients aged 13 to 65 years who were treated at the AMATEM unit of Istanbul Neuropsychiatry Hospital between January 1st, 2015, and December 12th, 2015. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The urine samples were sent to Üsküdar University Advanced Toxicology Analysis Laboratory and were analyzed using a UPLC tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS). To determine the substance use profiles of the patients applying to AMATEM, statistical assessment was performed on the analysis reports of the patients. RESULTS: When the analysis reports of the 600 urine samples were examined, 293 patients were identified to have used addictive substances. The substances most frequently detected in the urine samples were respectively: cannabis, alcohol, morphine, cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, and amphetamine. CONCLUSION: The findings in our study resemble the rates of cannabis use by the young population throughout the world. Our results show differences to the literature regarding the consumption of synthetic cannabinoids because the variety of synthetic cannabinoids change rapidly around the world each year.