Direct evidence for the involvement of intestinal reactive oxygen species in the progress of depression via the gut-brain axis.

Depression is a serious global social problem. Various therapeutic drugs have been developed based on the monoamine hypothesis; however, treatment-resistant depression is a common clinical issue. Recently, the gut-brain axis, which is associated with the hypothesis that the intestinal environment affects the brain, has garnered significant interest, and several studies have attempted to treat brain disorders based on this axis.

Electrophysiological Analysis of Antimicrobial Peptides in Diverse Species.

This study describes a technical platform that allows us to measure the pore-forming activity of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in the lipid bilayer and estimate antimicrobial activity. We selected six different AMPs of diverse species from urochordata to vertebrata and measured the channel current signals using a microfabricated lipid bilayer system. As a result of the electrophysiological measurements, we were able to estimate the pore-forming activity and roughly predict the antimicrobial activity although there was not a strong correlation between the pore-forming activity and the variety of species.