If you are suffering from depression, mood disorders or low immunity functioning, help may be at hand in the form of a bit of good, honest soil bacteria, report scientists from Bristol University, UK.

According to Dr Chris Lowry et al (2007), the bacteria bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae might be able to help in the fight against depression, mood disorders and certain immunity deficiencies; it may be able to significantly improve the quality of life for those suffering, it is suggested.

Bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae “boosts happiness” levels and could help restore healthy immune functions in Lung cancer patients, who are very often depressed and prone to infection, says Dr Lowry.

Mice exposed to bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae, it was observed and noted, made more of the brain’s “happy” chemical serotonin, the Bristol based team told the journal Neuroscience.

Popular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Fluoxetine and Paroxetine work by boosting this brain chemical, of course, and are used by millions of people in the UK each year.

The link between serotonin, mood and immunity is an intriguing one, and the benefits of exposure to bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae are being taken very seriously by serious scientists, and much progress has been made in the initial research.

For example, a team at Georgetown University Medical Center has just discovered that serotonin is passed between key cells in the immune system, and that the chemical can activate an immune response; importantly, this suggests that serotonin may indeed be able to help restore healthier immune functioning in people who are depressed and prone to infections.

The research is still at an early stage and more work obviously needs to be done to clarify the normal role of serotonin in immune cell functioning. Moreover, and importantly, no-one involved in the research is suggesting that a roll in bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae by itself is a cure for low immunity or depression, but it certainly looks encouraging.

At the very least, a good roll around in the dirt and mud of “Mother Earth” is likely to produce a hearty laugh for those involved, and this surely can only be a good thing, washing bills not withstanding.