The gut microbiome is associated with brain structure and function in schizophrenia

Study information

Needs review

study design

case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

33963227

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1038/s41598-021-89166-8

URI Uniform resource identifier for web resources.

Authors

Li S., Song J., Ke P., Kong L., Lei B., Zhou J., Huang Y., Li H., Li G., Chen J., Li X., Xiang Z., Ning Y., Wu F., Wu K.

Journal

Scientific reports

Year

2021

The effect of the gut microbiome on the central nervous system and its possible role in mental disorders have received increasing attention. However, knowledge about the relationship between the gut microbiome and brain structure and function is still very limited. Here, we used 16S rRNA sequencing with structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and resting-state functional (rs-fMRI) to investigate differences in fecal microbiota between 38 patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and 38 demographically matched normal controls (NCs) and explored whether such differences were associated with brain structure and function. At the genus level, we found that the relative abundance of Ruminococcus and Roseburia was significantly lower, whereas the abundance of Veillonella was significantly higher in SZ patients than in NCs. Additionally, the analysis of MRI data revealed that several brain regions showed significantly lower gray matter volume (GMV) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) but significantly higher amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in SZ patients than in NCs. Moreover, the alpha diversity of the gut microbiota showed a strong linear relationship with the values of both GMV and ReHo. In SZ patients, the ReHo indexes in the right STC (r = - 0.35, p = 0.031, FDR corrected p = 0.039), the left cuneus (r = - 0.33, p = 0.044, FDR corrected p = 0.053) and the right MTC (r = - 0.34, p = 0.03, FDR corrected p = 0.052) were negatively correlated with the abundance of the genus Roseburia. Our results suggest that the potential role of the gut microbiome in SZ is related to alterations in brain structure and function. This study provides insights into the underlying neuropathology of SZ.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2025/10/18

Curator: Tosin

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Subjects

Location of subjects: China

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Schizophrenia [X]Schizophrenia, unspecified,[X]Schizophrenia, unspecified (disorder),Dementia Praecox,Disorder, Schizophrenic,Disorders, Schizophrenic,Other specified types of schizophrenia,Other specified types of schizophrenia, chronic state,Other specified types of schizophrenia, chronic state with acute exacerbation,Other specified types of schizophrenia, in remission,Other specified types of schizophrenia, subchronic state,Other specified types of schizophrenia, subchronic state with acute exacerbation,Other specified types of schizophrenia, unspecified state,SCHIZO NEC-CHR/EXACERB,SCHIZO NEC-SUBCHR/EXACER,SCHIZO NOS-CHR/EXACERB,SCHIZO NOS-SUBCHR/EXACER,schizoaffective disorder,schizophrenia,schizophrenia (disease),Schizophrenia (disorder),SCHIZOPHRENIA NEC-CHR,SCHIZOPHRENIA NEC-REMISS,SCHIZOPHRENIA NEC-SUBCHR,SCHIZOPHRENIA NEC-UNSPEC,Schizophrenia NOS,Schizophrenia NOS (disorder),SCHIZOPHRENIA NOS-UNSPEC,schizophrenia with or without an affective disorder,Schizophrenia, NOS,schizophrenia-1,Schizophrenias,SCHIZOPHRENIC DIS,Schizophrenic Disorder,Schizophrenic Disorders,Schizophrenic disorders (disorder),SCZD,Unspecified schizophrenia,Unspecified schizophrenia (disorder),Unspecified schizophrenia, chronic state with acute exacerbation,Unspecified schizophrenia, subchronic state with acute exacerbation,Unspecified schizophrenia, unspecified state,Schizophrenia

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Normal control (NC) group

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Schizophrenia (SZ) group

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Patients with Schizophrenia

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 38

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 38

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V4

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: relative abundances

Statistical test: Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon)

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: No

Matched on Factors on which subjects have been matched on in a case-control study: age, body mass index, sex

Alpha Diversity

Pielou Quantifies how equal the community is numerically: unchanged

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: unchanged

Richness Number of species: unchanged

Faith Phylogenetic diversity, takes into account phylogenetic distance of all taxa identified in a sample: unchanged

Signature 1

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Source: Figure 2B

Description: Bacterial genera that were significantly different between the two groups: Normal control (NC) and Schizophrenia (SZ) groups

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Schizophrenia (SZ) group

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Veillonella

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Signature 2

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Source: Figure 2B

Description: Bacterial genera that were significantly different between the two groups: Normal control (NC) and Schizophrenia (SZ) patients

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Schizophrenia (SZ) group

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Roseburia
Ruminococcus

Revision editor(s): Tosin