Journal Article

Metagenome-wide association of gut microbiome features for schizophrenia

Zhao, Binbin, Yang, Zai, Wang, Wei, He, Xiaoyan, Xu, Xun, Zhu, Feng, Madsen, Lise, Guo, Ruijin, Ju, Yanmei, Xiao, Liang, Feng, Junqin, Chen, Ce, Jia, Huijue, Kristiansen, Karsten, Chen, Yunchun, Yang, Huanming, Zhang, Tao, Fan, Yajuan, Wang, Jian, Ma, Xiancang, Guo, Liyang, Ma, Qingyan, Gao, Chengge, Sun, Qiang, Dang, Yonghui, Jie, Zhuye, Xie, Yuying, Yang, Lin, Brix, Susanne, Wang, Qi

2020

Overview

Evidence is mounting that the gut-brain axis plays an important role in mental diseases fueling mechanistic investigations to provide a basis for future targeted interventions. However, shotgun metagenomic data from treatment-naïve patients are scarce hampering comprehensive analyses of the complex interaction between the gut microbiota and the brain. Here we explore the fecal microbiome based on 90 medication-free schizophrenia patients and 81 controls and identify a microbial species classifier distinguishing patients from controls with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.896, and replicate the microbiome-based disease classifier in 45 patients and 45 controls (AUC = 0.765). Functional potentials associated with schizophrenia include differences in short-chain fatty acids synthesis, tryptophan metabolism, and synthesis/degradation of neurotransmitters. Transplantation of a schizophrenia-enriched bacterium, Streptococcus vestibularis, appear to induces deficits in social behaviors, and alters neurotransmitter levels in peripheral tissues in recipient mice. Our findings provide new leads for further investigations in cohort studies and animal models.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 38/39 / 38/91 / 49/23 / 692/499 / 692/699/476/1799 / Animal models / Animals / Bacteria - classification / Bacteria - genetics / Behavior, Animal / Biodegradation / Brain / Classifiers / Digestive system / Disease Models, Animal / Fatty acids / Fecal Microbiota Transplantation / Fecal microflora / Feces - microbiology / Gastrointestinal Microbiome - genetics / Gastrointestinal Microbiome - physiology / Gut microbiota / Gut-brain axis / Humanities and Social Sciences / Humans / Intestinal microflora / Male / Mental disorders / Metagenome / Metagenomics / Metagenomics - methods / Mice / Mice, Inbred C57BL / Microbiomes / Microbiota / Microorganisms / multidisciplinary / Neurotransmitters / Risk Factors / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / ROC Curve / Schizophrenia / Schizophrenia - metabolism / Schizophrenia - microbiology / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Social Behavior / Species classification / Streptococcus / Synthesis / Transplantation / Tryptophan