Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2025
07:15
An In Vitro Batch-culture Model to Estimate the Effects of Interventional Regimens on Human Fecal Microbiota
Published on: July 31, 2019
9.6K
Causal relationship between the gut microbiota and insomnia: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Qianfei Wang1,2, Tianci Gao1,2, Weichao Zhang1,2
1The Graduate School, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang, China.
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
|March 19, 2024
Summary
This study used Mendelian randomization to investigate the gut microbiota
Area of Science:
- Microbiome research
- Human genetics
- Sleep science
Background:
- Gut microbiota alterations are linked to insomnia.
- The precise causal relationship remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal relationship between gut microbiota and insomnia.
- To provide genetic evidence for this association.
Main Methods:
- Two-sample Mendelian randomization study.
- Utilized genome-wide association study data for insomnia (462,341 participants) and gut microbiota (18,340 participants).
- Employed inverse-variance weighted (IVW) and MR-Egger regression, with reverse Mendelian randomization analysis.
Main Results:
- Identified 19 gut bacteria with a causal link to insomnia, including class Negativicutes, order Selenomonadales, and genus RikenellaceaeRC9gutgroup.
- Results were consistent across sensitivity analyses.
- Reverse Mendelian randomization analysis found no evidence of reverse causality.
Conclusions:
- Suggests a causal relationship between specific gut microbiota (class Negativicutes, order Selenomonadales, genus Lactococcus) and insomnia.
- Offers potential new avenues for insomnia treatment and prevention strategies targeting the gut microbiome.
Related Concept Videos
01:53Cause and Effect
10.9K
While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
10.9K
01:23Anatomy of the Intestines
71.9K
Although digestion of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids may begin in the stomach, it is completed in the intestine. The absorption of nutrients, water, and electrolytes from food and drink also occurs in the intestine. The intestines can be divided into two structurally distinct organs—the small and large intestines.
Small Intestines
The small intestine is an ~7 meter-long tube with an inner diameter of just 2.5 cm. Since most nutrients are absorbed here, the inner lining of the...
Small Intestines
The small intestine is an ~7 meter-long tube with an inner diameter of just 2.5 cm. Since most nutrients are absorbed here, the inner lining of the...
71.9K
02:07Blind Procedures
10.6K
Ideally, the people who observe and record the children’s behavior are unaware of who was assigned to the experimental or control group, in order to control for experimenter bias. Experimenter bias refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study. Remember, conducting an experiment requires a lot of planning, and the people involved in the research project have a vested interest in supporting their hypotheses. If the observers knew which...
10.6K