Reproducible microbiome composition signatures of anxiety and depressive symptoms

Afroditi Kouraki; Anthony Kelly; Amrita Vijay; Sameer Gohir; Stuart Astbury; Vasileios Georgopoulos; Bonnie Millar; David Andrew Walsh; Eamonn Ferguson; Cristina Menni; Ana M Valdes

doi:10.1016/j.csbj.2023.10.035

Reproducible microbiome composition signatures of anxiety and depressive symptoms

Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2023 Oct 18:21:5326-5336. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.10.035. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Afroditi Kouraki^{1

2}, Anthony Kelly^{1

2}, Amrita Vijay¹, Sameer Gohir^{1

2}, Stuart Astbury^{1

3}, Vasileios Georgopoulos^{1

4}, Bonnie Millar^{1

2

4}, David Andrew Walsh^{1

2

4}, Eamonn Ferguson^{2

4

5

6}, Cristina Menni⁷, Ana M Valdes^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Academic Unit of Injury, Recovery and Inflammation Sciences, Rheumatology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
² NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
³ Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, Translational Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
⁴ Pain Centre Versus Arthritis, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
⁵ School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK.
⁶ National Institute for Health and Care Research Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Donor Health and Behaviour, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁷ Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.

Abstract

The gut microbiome is a significant contributor to mental health, with growing evidence linking its composition to anxiety and depressive disorders. Gut microbiome composition is associated with signs of anxiety and depression both in clinically diagnosed mood disorders and subclinically in the general population and may be influenced by dietary fibre intake and the presence of chronic pain. We provide an update of current evidence on the role of gut microbiome composition in depressive and anxiety disorders or symptoms by reviewing available studies. Analysing data from three independent cohorts (osteoarthritis 1 (OA1); n = 46, osteoarthritis 2 (OA2); n = 58, and healthy controls (CON); n = 67), we identified microbial composition signatures of anxiety and depressive symptoms at genus level and cross-validated our findings performing meta-analyses of our results with results from previously published studies. The genera Bifidobacterium (fixed-effect beta (95% CI) = -0.22 (-0.34, -0.10), p = 3.90e-04) and Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group (fixed-effect beta (95% CI) = -0.09 (-0.13, -0.05), p = 2.53e-06) were found to be the best predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively, across our three cohorts and published literature taking into account demographic and lifestyle covariates, such as fibre intake. The association with anxiety was robust in accounting for heterogeneity between cohorts and supports previous observations of the potential prophylactic effect of Bifidobacterium against anxiety symptoms.

Keywords: Anxiety symptoms; Chronic pain; Depressive symptoms; Fibre; Gut microbiota; Meta-analysis.

Grants and funding

MR/W026813/1/MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom