Jasmine Tea Attenuates Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress-Induced Depressive-like Behavior in Rats via the Gut-Brain Axis

The number of depressed people has increased worldwide. Dysfunction of the gut microbiota has been closely related to depression. The mechanism by which jasmine tea ameliorates depression via the brain-gut-microbiome (BGM) axis remains unclear. Here, the effects of jasmine tea on rats with depressive-like symptoms via the gut microbiome were investigated. We first established a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rat model to induce depressive symptoms and measured the changes in depression-related indicators. Simultaneously, the changes in gut microbiota were investigated by 16S rRNA sequencing. Jasmine tea treatment improved depressive-like behaviors and neurotransmitters in CUMS rats. Jasmine tea increased the gut microbiota diversity and richness of depressed rats induced by CUMS. Spearman’s analysis showed correlations between the differential microbiota (Patescibacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Spirochaetes, Elusimicrobia, and Proteobacteria) and depressive-related indicators (BDNF, GLP-1, and 5-HT in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex). Combined with the correlation analysis of gut microbiota, the result indicated that jasmine tea could attenuate depression in rats via the brain- gut-microbiome axis.