00:03In recent years, we've been finding out more and more about how our gut microbiome affects
00:08our overall physical and even mental health. There's been a growing body of evidence to
00:12support this, but now researchers from Wuhan University say they've identified the exact
00:16enzyme which could contribute to depression. Estradiol, or rather the lack of the hormone,
00:21has long been linked to depression. Imbalances in the hormone can be attributed to several
00:25specific medical conditions in women, and depression is often a symptom that becomes
00:29present. So researchers added estradiol to fecal samples from women who were known to have
00:34depression, finding that in just two hours, the estradiol levels would plummet by 78%.
00:39For comparison, the women who were not depressed showed only a 25% decrease in those hormone levels.
00:45This allowed scientists to isolate the culprit, a bacteria called Klebsiella aerogenes TS-2020.
00:51That's because the bacteria has an innate ability to produce a specific enzyme which allows it to
00:55convert estradiol into estrone, with the researchers writing that this could change treatment options
01:00for depression forever, writing in the paper, quote, estradiol degrading bacteria in the gut,
01:05particularly the enzymes expressed by these bacteria, may be better targets for intervention.
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