Abstract
Background: The gut microbiome has been implicated in the pathogenesis of mental disorders where the gut-brain axis acts as a bidirectional communication network. Methods: Herein, we investigated the compositional and functional differences of gut microbiome between patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) (n = 26) and healthy control participants (n = 22) using whole-genome shotgun sequencing. In addition, we assessed the oral microbiome in patients with FEP (n = 13) and listed their taxonomic diversity. Results: Our findings suggest that there is a dysbiosis of gut microbiota in patients with FEP. Relative abundance of Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Prevotella copri, and Turicibacter sanguinis was markedly increased (linear discriminant analysis scores [log 10] > 1, and Mann-Whitney U test; false discovery rate–adjusted p values < .05) in the FEP group compared with the healthy control participants. Pathway analysis indicated that several metabolic pathways, particularly deoxyribonucleotide biosynthesis, branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and fatty acid elongation and biosynthesis, were dysregulated in the FEP group compared with the healthy control group. In addition, this preliminary study was able to identify specific gut microbes (at baseline) that were predictive of weight gain in the FEP group at a 1-year follow-up. Bacteroides dorei, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Turicibacter sanguinis, Roseburia spp., and Ruminococcus lactaris were positively associated (eXtreme gradient boosting, XGBoost regression model, Shapley additive explanations, R 2 = 0.82) with weight gain. Conclusions: Our findings may suggest the involvement of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of psychosis. The benefit of modulation of the gut microbiome in the treatment of psychotic disorders should be explored further.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 370-379 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Biological Psychiatry |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Feb 2024 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant Nos. 278171 and 323035 [to JS] and Grant No. 323037 [to JH]) , by the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation (to JS), by the Finnish Cultural Foundation (to JS), and by the Stanley Medical Research Institute (to RY) . This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant Nos. 278171 and 323035 [to JS] and Grant No. 323037 [to JH]), by the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation (to JS), by the Finnish Cultural Foundation (to JS), and by the Stanley Medical Research Institute (to RY). PS and EP processed and analyzed the sequencing data and wrote the paper. JKH helped design the study. OC prepared the shotgun DNA libraries. RY and JS supervised the study and helped write and review the paper. Raw metagenomics data with quality information is available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information/Sequence Read Archive website (BioProject ID PRJNA1044118). Other supporting data from the Helsinki Early Psychosis Study is available at the Finnish Institute for Health. Sharing of the data is possible in research collaborations if it is in agreement with the consent given by the participants and with the General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable laws. Collaborations require a separate agreement and local ethical committee approval. The authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Finnish Institute for Health | |
| General Data Protection Regulation | |
| Stanley Medical Research Institute | PRJNA1044118 |
| Academy of Finland | 323035, 278171, 323037 |
| Finnish Cultural Foundation | |
| Sigrid Jusélius Foundation |
Keywords
- Humans
- Firmicutes
- Microbiota
- Psychotic Disorders
- Weight Gain