Disrupted diurnal oscillations of the gut microbiota in patients with alcohol dependence

Kangqing Zhao; Zhaojun Ni; Ying Qin; Ran Zhu; Zhoulong Yu; Yundong Ma; Wenhao Chen; Qiqing Sun; Zhong Wang; Yanjing Liu; Jingwen Zhao; Wenjuan Peng; Sifan Hu; Jie Shi; Lin Lu; Hongqiang Sun

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1127011

Disrupted diurnal oscillations of the gut microbiota in patients with alcohol dependence

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Feb 17:13:1127011. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1127011. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kangqing Zhao¹, Zhaojun Ni¹, Ying Qin², Ran Zhu¹, Zhoulong Yu¹, Yundong Ma¹, Wenhao Chen¹, Qiqing Sun¹, Zhong Wang¹, Yanjing Liu², Jingwen Zhao², Wenjuan Peng², Sifan Hu¹, Jie Shi^{3

4

5}, Lin Lu¹, Hongqiang Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, China.
² Addiction Medicine Department, The Second People's Hospital of Guizhou Province, Guizhou, China.
³ National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁴ The State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁵ The Key Laboratory for Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Background: Patients with alcohol dependence (AD) can exhibit gut dysbacteria. Dysbacteria may co-occur with disruptions of circadian rhythmicity of the gut flora, which can aggravate AD. Herein, this study aimed to investigate diurnal oscillations of the gut microbiota in AD patients.

Methods: Thirty-two patients with AD, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, and 20 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Demographic and clinical data were collected by self-report questionnaires. Fecal samples at 7:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and 7:00 PM were collected from each subject. 16S rDNA sequencing was conducted. Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to characterize alterations and oscillations of the gut microbiota.

Results: We found that β-diversity of the gut microbiota in AD patients oscillated diurnally compared with healthy subjects (p = 0.01). Additionally, 0.66% of operational taxonomic units oscillated diurnally in AD patients versus 1.68% in healthy subjects. At different taxonomic levels, bacterial abundance oscillated diurnally in both groups, such as Pseudomonas and Prevotella pallens (all p < 0.05). β-diversity of the gut microbiota in AD patients with high daily alcohol consumption, high-level cravings, short AD durations, and mild withdrawal symptoms oscillated diurnally compared with other AD patients (all p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The gut microbiota in AD patients exhibits disruptions of diurnal oscillation, which may provide novel insights into mechanisms of AD and the development of therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: alcohol dependence; diurnal oscillation; dysbiosis; gut microbiota; rhythmicity.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Alcoholism*
Circadian Rhythm
DNA, Ribosomal
Feces
Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
Humans

Substances

DNA, Ribosomal

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81971235, 81771429, and 81571297). The sponsor of the study had no participation in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or writing and submitting this manuscript for publication. The corresponding author had full access to all data in this study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.