Microbiota in anorexia nervosa: The triangle between bacterial species, metabolites and psychological tests

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Shaimaa Elsafoury on 2021/02/09

study design

prospective cohort

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

28636668

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1371/journal.pone.0179739

URI

Authors

Borgo F, Riva A, Benetti A, Casiraghi MC, Bertelli S, Garbossa S, Anselmetti S, Scarone S, Pontiroli AE, Morace G, Borghi E

Journal

PloS one

Year

2017

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric disease with devastating physical consequences, with a pathophysiological mechanism still to be elucidated. Metagenomic studies on anorexia nervosa have revealed profound gut microbiome perturbations as a possible environmental factor involved in the disease. In this study we performed a comprehensive analysis integrating data on gut microbiota with clinical, anthropometric and psychological traits to gain new insight in the pathophysiology of AN. Fifteen AN women were compared with fifteen age-, sex- and ethnicity-matched healthy controls. AN diet was characterized by a significant lower energy intake, but macronutrient analysis highlighted a restriction only in fats and carbohydrates consumption. Next generation sequencing showed that AN intestinal microbiota was significantly affected at every taxonomic level, showing a significant increase of Enterobacteriaceae, and of the archeon Methanobrevibacter smithii compared with healthy controls. On the contrary, the genera Roseburia, Ruminococcus and Clostridium, were depleted, in line with the observed reduction in AN of total short chain fatty acids, butyrate, and propionate. Butyrate concentrations inversely correlated with anxiety levels, whereas propionate directly correlated with insulin levels and with the relative abundance of Roseburia inulinivorans, a known propionate producer. BMI represented the best predictive value for gut dysbiosis and metabolic alterations, showing a negative correlation with Bacteroides uniformis (microbiota), with alanine aminotransferase (liver function), and with psychopathological scores (obsession-compulsion, anxiety, and depression), and a positive correlation with white blood cells count. In conclusion, our findings corroborate the hypothesis that the gut dysbiosis could take part in the AN neurobiology, in particular in sustaining the persistence of alterations that eventually result in relapses after renourishment and psychological therapy, but causality still needs to be proven.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: WikiWorks

Revision editor(s): Rimsha, WikiWorks, Victoria

Subjects

Location of subjects: Italy

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

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

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Aonerxia Nervosa patients

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: The severity of eating disorder and psychopathology tests were assessed by means of the Symptom Checklist 90 (general psychopathology), Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (eating disorder), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (anxiety disorder) and Beck Depression Inventory (depressive symptoms). Psychologists and psychiatrists (all extensively trained in the use of the instruments) conducted clinical evaluations.

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 15

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 15

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 1 month

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: Not specified

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: T-Test

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)?: Yes

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

Signature 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Shaimaa Elsafoury on 2021/02/09

Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: Fatima Zohra

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks

Source: Table 3 +text

Description: Significant differential abundance in anorexia nervosa vs controls

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Aonerxia Nervosa patients

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Pseudomonadota
Enterobacteriaceae
Methanobrevibacter smithii

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks

Signature 2

Edit History Delete

Flag for review

Your review change was submitted

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Shaimaa Elsafoury on 2021/02/09

Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: Fatima Zohra

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks

Source: Table 3 +text

Description: Significant differential abundance in anorexia nervosa vs controls

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Aonerxia Nervosa patients

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Bacillota
Oscillospiraceae
Ruminococcus
Roseburia
Clostridium

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks