Skip to content
PaperFren

Psychiatric neuroimaging

Do probiotics improve vagal function in depression?

Mörkl S, Narrath M, Schlotmann D, et al. · Gut microbes · 2025

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

In an RCT of 43 depressed patients and 43 controls, three months of a multi-species probiotic lowered morning heart rate and raised morning RMSSD/lnHF in depression versus placebo, with more Akkermansia and better sleep metrics.

Save to libraryView originalAsk PaperFrenStudy view

Study at a glance

Design
RCT — Randomized placebo-controlled trial of OMNi-BiOTiC STRESS Repair twice daily in MD vs healthy controls; 24-h HRV, stool 16S, sleep; NCT-04772664
N
N=86 · 43 major-depression patients and 43 healthy controls randomized to probiotic or placebo; 148 screened
Population
Adults 18–65 with ICD-10 major depression (on usual care) and healthy controls
Outcome
Vagus nerve function by 24-h HRV (morning RMSSD/lnHF/heart rate), microbiome, and sleep

Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.

Key findings

MD had higher heart rate and lower 24-h pNN50/RMSSD/SDNN than controls. After 3 months, MD on probiotic vs placebo had lower morning heart rate (t(33)=3.23, p=.003, d=1.10) and higher morning RMSSD (p=.002) and lnHF (p=.001), plus more Christensenellales/Akkermansia and improved PSQI sleep latency/medication use.

Methodology

Randomized MD and healthy adults to OMNi-BiOTiC STRESS Repair or placebo twice daily, collecting 24-h ECG/HRV, stool 16S, serum, and questionnaires at baseline, 7 days, 28 days, and 3 months (NCT-04772664).

Limitations

Adjunctive probiotics are not a stand-alone antidepressant trial; sample is modest, MD stayed on usual psychotropics, and abstract ‘vs HC’ wording is looser than the placebo-contrast results.

How this study connects

Role on claims

Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.

Not yet placed on a claim. This paper has study layers, but no concept page yet cites it as support, challenge, or qualifier.

Related papers in this topic

Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.