Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a disease in which unpleasant mental and physical symptoms continue for 3 to 10 days before menstruation, which hinders female performance.This time, a research team led by Mr. Taku Takeda, director of the Institute of Oriental Medicine, Kinki University, said that in the intestinal flora (intestinal flora) of PMS patients, "buty acid-producing bacteria" and brains that can be expected to be involved in antidepressant action. For the first time in the world, it was revealed that the number of "GABA-producing bacteria" that produce internal neurotransmitters is decreasing.
Although the intestinal flora has been attracting attention for its association with various diseases, the examination of the intestinal flora in PMS patients has not been conducted so far. PMS has much in common with depression, and its association with intestinal flora is being studied in the field of psychiatric disorders including depression, so this group is a new therapeutic target candidate for PMS. I focused on the intestinal flora.
Next-generation sequence metagenomic analysis was performed on patients with moderate or higher PMS and healthy subjects who were not aware of PMS symptoms, and their intestinal flora was analyzed.As a result, PMS patients and healthy subjects show different intestinal flora, and PMS patients produce GABA-producing bacteria that are expected to have antidepressant effects and brain neurotransmitters that are also related to the pathophysiology of PMS. It is said that he admitted that the number of bacteria has decreased.These gut bacteria may be associated with the development of PMS.
Based on the findings clarified in this study, it is expected to develop PMS diagnostic markers and therapeutic methods focusing on the intestinal flora such as diet, probiotics, and prebiotics. The standard treatment for PMS, "low-dose pills," and the antidepressant, "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors," are generally not well accepted, so PMS is simple and less burdensome to the body. This is an epoch-making result that leads to the proposal of a new treatment method.
Paper information:[PLOS ONE] Characteristics of the gut microbiota in women with premenstrual symptoms: a cross-sectional study
