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Clostridiales are predominant microbes that mediate psychiatric disorders
Jingjing Li1, Yunlong Ma1, Zhiwei Bao1
1State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Background:
An increasing number of studies have documented associations between psychiatric diseases and the gut microbiome. By taking genetic correlation and comorbidity of different psychiatric diseases into consideration, we hypothesized that different psychiatric diseases might share some similar microbial shift patterns. However, a deep understanding of whether and how those psychiatric disease-associated microbial dysbiosis spectrums are correlated is currently lacking.
Methods:
In this study, we analyzed six case-control 16S amplicon sequencing datasets for psychiatric disorders, which included a total of 430 subjects, and compared microbial dysbiosis patterns across these studies.
Results:
Different psychiatric diseases exhibited similar overall shift patterns. Significant correlations of overall shift patterns existed between schizophrenia and anorexia (p = 0.0008), as well as between schizophrenia and autism (p = 0.028). We identified 6 genera within order Clostridiales (genus Gemmiger, Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Lachnospira, Anaerostipes, and two unclassified genera from family Lachnopsiraceae and Christensenellaceae) that were significantly depleted in multiple psychiatric diseases. Our further functional analysis revealed that depletion of these Clostridiales was associated with dysfunction in amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism. Short chain fatty acid (SCFA) producing bacteria Roseburia was the most important contributor for major KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) orthology entries involved in amino acid metabolism.
Conclusions:
Our study revealed common microbial shift patterns across psychiatric disorders and found predominant psychiatry-associated intestinal microbes and functions. Depletion of Clostridiales (e.g., Roseburia) probably mediated different psychiatric diseases by dysfunction of intestinal amino acid metabolism and SCFA production. Furthermore, our study indicated that correlations of microbial shift patterns between psychiatric diseases may derived from their genetic associations. Such shared microbial dysbiosis patterns are intriguing for discovering biomarkers and investigating therapeutic targets for treating psychiatric diseases.
Insights
Psychiatric diseases share common gut microbiome shifts, particularly depleted Clostridiales bacteria, impacting amino acid and SCFA metabolism. These shared patterns may link to genetic factors and offer new therapeutic targets.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Psychiatry
- Genetics
Background:
- Growing evidence links psychiatric disorders to gut microbiome alterations.
- Genetic correlations and comorbidities suggest shared microbial dysbiosis patterns across psychiatric diseases.
- Understanding the spectrum and correlation of these microbial shifts is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate shared microbial dysbiosis patterns across different psychiatric disorders.
- To identify specific microbial taxa and functions associated with psychiatric diseases.
- To explore the correlation between microbial shifts and genetic associations in psychiatric disorders.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of six case-control 16S amplicon sequencing datasets for psychiatric disorders (430 subjects).
- Comparison of microbial dysbiosis patterns across studies.
- Functional analysis of identified microbial shifts.
Main Results:
- Common microbial shift patterns observed across different psychiatric diseases.
- Significant correlations in shift patterns between schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa, and schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder.
- Depletion of specific Clostridiales genera (e.g., Roseburia) linked to amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism dysfunction.
- Roseburia, a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) producer, was key in amino acid metabolism pathways.
Conclusions:
- Psychiatric disorders exhibit common gut microbial shifts, with depleted Clostridiales impacting key metabolic functions.
- Shared microbial dysbiosis patterns may be influenced by genetic associations between psychiatric diseases.
- These findings highlight potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for psychiatric conditions.
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