"Attacking" the Gut-Brain Axis with Psychobiotics: An Umbrella Review of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms.

ABSTRACT: Background/Objectives: This umbrella review critically evaluates the available evidence on psychobiotics for depressive and anxiety symptoms, emphasizing methodological quality, consistency of findings, and persistent gaps in the literature. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, SciELO, Cochrane, and EBSCO (May-June 2025) to identify systematic reviews with meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials examining probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotic interventions in adults with depressive and/or anxiety symptoms or diagnoses. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and evaluated methodological quality using AMSTAR-2. Additional bibliometric, conceptual, and psychometric features were mapped, including

SUBMITTER: Sa Filho AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12845323 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature