The gut microbiome and inflammation in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients compared to age- and sex-matched controls: a pilot study

Study information

Needs review

study design

cross-sectional observational, not case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

32307692

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1111/acps.13175

URI

Authors

Turna J, Grosman Kaplan K, Anglin R, Patterson B, Soreni N, Bercik P, Surette MG, Van Ameringen M

Journal

Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica

Year

2020

Keywords:

OCD, anxiety, cytokine, gut microbiota, gut-brain axis, inflammation

OBJECTIVE: To compare the gut microbiome profile (by way of taxon analysis and indices of β- and α-diversity) and inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6[IL-6] and tumour necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]) of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) outpatients and non-psychiatric community controls. METHODS: We collected morning stool and blood samples from 21 non-depressed, medication-free OCD patients and 22 age- and sex-matched non-psychiatric community controls. Microbiota analysis was performed using Illumina sequencing of the V3 region of 16S rRNA; serum CRP samples were analysed using immunoturbidimetry and plasma IL-6/TNF-α were examined by high-sensitivity ELISA. Multiple comparisons were corrected for using the false discovery rate (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Compared to controls, the OCD group presented lower species richness/evenness (α-diversity, Inverse Simpson) and lower relative abundance of three butyrate producing genera (Oscillospira, Odoribacter and Anaerostipes). Compared to controls, mean CRP, but not IL-6 and TNF-α, was elevated OCD patients. CRP revealed moderate to strong associations with psychiatric symptomatology. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the gut microbiome in OCD. In addition, our findings lend further support for the potential association of inflammation and OCD. These results suggest the gut microbiome may be a potential pathway of interest for future OCD research.

Experiment 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Fatima on 2021/04/28

Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: WikiWorks

Revision editor(s): Fatima, WikiWorks

Subjects

Location of subjects: Canada

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled (if applicable): 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

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: obsessive-compulsive disorder Anancastic neurosis,obsessive compulsive disorder,obsessive-compulsive disorder,OCD

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: healthy controls
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: OCD
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: non-depressed medication free individuals or individuals with mild depressive symptoms (MADRS score<16) with a primary DSM-5 diagnosis of OCD as per the MINI or at least moderate OCD (Y-BOCS score >= 20)
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 22
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 21
Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 8 weeks

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V3

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

Statistical Analysis

Statistical test: ANCOM

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

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness: unchanged
Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa: decreased
Richness Number of species: unchanged