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Sleep disturbances are increasingly prevalent, significantly impacting physical and mental health. Recent research reveals a bidirectional relationship between gut microbiota and sleep, mediated through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. This review examines the role of gut microbiota in sleep physiology and explores how biotics, including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, and fermented foods, can enhance sleep quality. Drawing from animal and human studies, we discuss neurobiological mechanisms by which biotics may influence sleep, including modulation of neurotransmitters, immune responses, and hormonal regulation. Key microbial metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids, are highlighted for their role in supporting sleep-related neurochemical processes. Additionally, this review presents dietary strategies and food processing technologies, like fermentation, as innovative approaches for sleep enhancement. Although promising, the available research has limitations, including small sample sizes, variability in biotic strains and dosages, and reliance on subjective sleep assessments. This review underscores the need for standardized protocols, objective assessments such as polysomnography, and personalized biotic interventions. Emerging findings highlight the therapeutic potential of gut microbiota modulation for sleep improvement, though further large-scale human trials are essential to refine strain selection, dosage, and formulation. This interdisciplinary exploration seeks to advance food-based interventions and holistic strategies for managing sleep disorders and improving quality of life., (© 2025 Institute of Food Technologists.)

Scope: Cow's milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most prevalent food allergies in early childhood, often treated via elimination diets including standard amino acid-based formula or amino acid-based formula supplemented with synbiotics (AAF or AAF-S). This work aimed to assess the effect of cow's milk (CM) tolerance acquisition and synbiotic (inulin, oligofructose, Bifidobacterium breve M-16 V) supplementation on the fecal metabolome in infants with IgE-mediated CMA., Methods and Results: The CMA-allergic infants received AAF or AAF-S for a year during which fecal samples were collected. The samples were subjected to metabolomics analyses covering gut microbial metabolites including SCFAs, tryptophan metabolites, and bile acids (BAs). Longitudinal data analysis suggested amino acids, BAs, and branched SCFAs alterations in infants who outgrew CMA during the intervention. Synbiotic supplementation significantly modified the fecal metabolome after 6 months of intervention, including altered purine, BA, and unsaturated fatty acid levels, and increased metabolites of infant-type Bifidobacterium species: indolelactic acid and 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid., Conclusion: This study offers no clear conclusion on the impact of CM-tolerance acquisition on the fecal metabolome. However, our results show that 6 months of synbiotic supplementation successfully altered fecal metabolome and suggest induced bifidobacteria activity, which subsequently declined after 12 months of intervention., (© 2024 The Author(s). Molecular Nutrition & Food Research published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Synbiotics may be useful to mitigate intestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis. Here we show that combining 13'-carboxychromanol (δT3-13'), a metabolite of vitamin E δ-tocotrienol (δT3) via omega-oxidation, and Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremori (L. cremoris), but neither agent alone, significantly attenuated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced fecal bleeding and diarrhea, histologic colitis and interleukin 1β in mice. The combination of δT3-13'+L. cremoris also synergistically prevented DSS-caused compositional changes in gut microbiota and enriched beneficial bacteria including Lactococcus and Butyricicoccus. Interestingly, the anti-colitis effect correlated with the concentrations of δT3-13'-hydrogenated metabolite that contains 2 double bonds on the side chain (δT2-13'), instead of δT3-13' itself. Moreover, in contrast to δT3-13', combining δT3 and L. cremoris showed modest anti-colitis effects and did not prevent colitis-associated dysbiosis. In addition, ex vivo anaerobic incubation studies revealed that gut microbes selected by δT3-13' in the animal study could metabolize this compound to δT2-13' via hydrogenation, which appeared to be enhanced by L. cremoris. Overall, our study demonstrates that combining δT3-13' and L. cremoris can synergically prevent dysbiosis, and may be a novel synbiotic against colitis potentially via promoting δT3-13' metabolizers, which in turn contributes to superior beneficial effects of the combination., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study assesses the effects of a prebiotic derived from Morinda citrifolia (noni fruit) extract and a probiotic of Lactobacillus plantarum CMT1 alone and in combination on the survival, growth performance, digestive enzymes, and disease resistance of whiteleg shrimp. A total of 1200 juvenile shrimp were randomly allocated to four treatments: control (not supplemented with noni fruit extract or L. plantarum CMT1), Treatment 1 (TRT1) (supplemented with 1 % noni fruit extract), Treatment 2 (TRT2) (supplemented with 10 8  CFU/kg L. plantarum CMT1), and Treatment 3 (TRT3) (supplemented with 1 % noni fruit extract and 10 8  CFU/kg L. plantarum CMT1). After 56 days of feeding, the growth indices of the TRT3 group were statistically larger than the other treatments (P < 0.05). Shrimp in the three treatment groups demonstrated significantly enhanced survival compared to those in the control group (P < 0.05), but no significant differences were observed among these three groups (P > 0.05). Shrimp fed the TRT3 diet had the lowest feed conversion rate, which was statistically significant compared to the other groups. Shrimp in the TRT3 group also had significantly higher amylase and protease levels than the control group. In addition, the use of fruit extract or L.plantarum CMT1 alone and in combination significantly increased shrimp survival after exposure to Vibrio parahaemolyticus, with the TRT3 group recording the highest value. The results indicate that a synbiotic of M. citrifolia extract and L.plantarum CMT1 could be used in shrimp aquaculture to promote animal development and health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: A growing body of studies revealed that enteric dysbacteriosis could result in depression via the "gut-microbiota-brain axis" (GMBA). Whether probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics supplements could lessen the risk of depression is a topic attracting attention. This research was conducted to evaluate the relationship between probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, or yogurt supplements and depression with large cross-sectional data., Methods: All data in our research was sourced from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2005-2016). Probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and yogurt supplements were identified using Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and Dietary Supplement Use 30-Day (DSQ). We employed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for evaluating depression. Logistic regression and the Kaplan-Meier curve were performed to examine the correlation between the supplements and depression, as well as mortality., Results: A total of 17,745 adult participants were selected. The participants who supplemented probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, or yogurt products in the last 30 days showed a significantly lower depression rate compared with those who didn't. Specifically, the supplements could alleviate depressive symptoms including sad, anhedonia, sleep problems, fatigue, appetite changes, and psychomotor changes. This association was more prominent in specific populations such as the population aged 40-60 years, male, whites. The supplements also show more significant effects on increasing survival rates in patients with mild depression., Limitation: Cross-sectional analysis reveals correlative but not causative association., Conclusion: Based on the analysis of NHANES data, our research highlights the positive effect the supplements have on preventing depression, relieving depressive symptoms and increasing survival rates. This effect varied across populations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest in this work., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)