Diet and depression: exploring the biological mechanisms of action
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Accepted Version
Date
2020-11-03
Authors
Marx, Wolfgang
Lane, Melissa
Hockey, Meghan
Aslam, Hajara
Berk, Michael
Walder, Ken
Borsini, Alessandra
Firth, Joseph
Pariante, Carmine M.
Berding, Kirsten
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Nature Limited
Published Version
Abstract
The field of nutritional psychiatry has generated observational and efficacy data supporting a role for healthy dietary patterns in depression onset and symptom management. To guide future clinical trials and targeted dietary therapies, this review provides an overview of what is currently known regarding underlying mechanisms of action by which diet may influence mental and brain health. The mechanisms of action associating diet with health outcomes are complex, multifaceted, interacting, and not restricted to any one biological pathway. Numerous pathways were identified through which diet could plausibly affect mental health. These include modulation of pathways involved in inflammation, oxidative stress, epigenetics, mitochondrial dysfunction, the gut microbiota, tryptophan-kynurenine metabolism, the HPA axis, neurogenesis and BDNF, epigenetics, and obesity. However, the nascent nature of the nutritional psychiatry field to date means that the existing literature identified in this review is largely comprised of preclinical animal studies. To fully identify and elucidate complex mechanisms of action, intervention studies that assess markers related to these pathways within clinically diagnosed human populations are needed.
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Keywords
Diet , Mental health , Nutritional psychiatry
Citation
Marx, W., Lane, M., Hockey, M., Aslam, H., Berk, M., Walder, K., Borsini, A., Firth, J., Pariante, C. M., Berding, K., Cryan, J. F., Clarke, G., Craig, J. M., Su, K.-P., Mischoulon, D., Gomez-Pinilla, F., Foster, J. A., Cani, P. D., Thuret, S., Staudacher, H. M., Sánchez-Villegas, A., Arshad, H., Akbaraly, T., O’Neil, A., Segasby, T. and Jacka, F. N. (2020) ‘Diet and depression: exploring the biological mechanisms of action’, Molecular Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/s41380-020-00925-x
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© 2020, the Authors, under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Molecular Psychiatry on 3 November 2020. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-020-00925-x