Abstract: The study found the presence of bidirectional communication networks between the gut microbiota and the central nervous system (CNS), which is associated with the development and treatment of depression. It is an accepted fact that the function of the CNS is affected by regulating the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome can affect depression through inflammation, the gut microbiome metabolites, HPA axis and vagus nerve. Based on the theory of the gut microbiome-gut -brain axis, the mechanism of three kinds of microecological foods including probiotics, prebiotics and food-medicine homologous traditional Chinese medicine in improving depression by regulating intestinal flora was analyzed, and according to the existing research, the challenges and opportunities of the antidepressant effect of microecological food were put forward, so as to provide a new direction for follow-up research.

Key words: depression, the gut microbiome-gut-brain axis, probiotics, prebiotics, food-medicine homologous traditional Chinese medicine