Characteristics of the gut microbiota in bipolar depressive disorder patients with distinct weight

Peifen Zhang; Danhua Zhang; Jianbo Lai; Yaoyang Fu; Lingling Wu; Huimin Huang; Yanmeng Pan; Jiajun Jiang; Caixi Xi; Ziyuan Che; Xueqin Song; Shaohua Hu

doi:10.1111/cns.14078

Characteristics of the gut microbiota in bipolar depressive disorder patients with distinct weight

CNS Neurosci Ther. 2023 Jun;29 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):74-83. doi: 10.1111/cns.14078. Epub 2023 Jan 5.

Authors

Peifen Zhang^{1

2}, Danhua Zhang¹, Jianbo Lai^{1

3

4

5}, Yaoyang Fu¹, Lingling Wu¹, Huimin Huang⁶, Yanmeng Pan¹, Jiajun Jiang¹, Caixi Xi¹, Ziyuan Che⁷, Xueqin Song², Shaohua Hu^{1

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
² The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
³ The Key Laboratory of Mental Disorder's Management in Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Brain Research Institute of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁵ MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science & Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University.
⁶ Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
⁷ College of Agriculture & Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Preliminary studies have indicated metabolic dysfunction and gut dysbiosis in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). In this study, we aimed to clarify the impact of the gut microbial composition and function on metabolic dysfunction in BD patients with an acute depressive episode.

Methods: Fresh fecal samples were provided from 58 patients with BD depression, including 29 with normal weight (NW) and 29 with overweight/obesity (OW), and 31 healthy controls (HCs). The hypervariable region of 16 S rRNA gene (V3-V4) sequencing was performed using IonS5TMXL platform to evaluate the bacterial communities. Differences of microbial community and correlation to clinical parameters across different groups were analyzed.

Results: Compared to NW and HCs, the OW group showed a decreased tendency in alpha diversity index. Beta diversity was markedly different among these groups (PERMANOVA: R² = 0.034, p = 0.01) and was higher in patients versus HCs. A total number of 24 taxa displayed significantly different abundance among OW, NW, and HCs. At the family level, the abundance of three taxa was remarkably increased in NW, one in OW, and one in HCs. At the genus level, five taxa were enriched in OW, eight in NW, and two in HCs. The relative abundance of the genera Megamonas was positively associated with BMI, while Eggerthella was negatively correlated with BMI. Functional prediction analysis revealed the metabolism of cofactors and vitamins and amino acid were highly enriched in OW compared to HCs. In addition, microbial functions involved in "lipid metabolism" were depleted while the "fructose and mannose metabolism" was enriched in OW compared to NW group.

Conclusions: Specific bacterial taxa involved in pathways regulating the lipid, energy, and amino acid metabolisms may underlie the weight concerns in depressed BD patients. Potential targeting gut microbial therapy is provided for overweight/obesity patients with BD, which still need further studies in the future.

Keywords: 16 S rRNA; bipolar disorder; gut microbiota; metabolism; weight.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amino Acids
Bipolar Disorder*
Depressive Disorder*
Gastrointestinal Microbiome* / genetics
Humans
Lipids
Obesity
Overweight

Substances

Amino Acids
Lipids

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding