Assessing the effect of interaction between C-reactive protein and gut microbiome on the risks of anxiety and depression

Yujing Chen,Shiqiang Cheng,Zhen Zhang,Peilin Meng,Feng Zhang,Jingxi Zhang,Yan Wen,Chuyu Pan,Yao Yao,Huijie Zhang,Yumeng Jia,Xuena Yang,Chun’E Li

doi:10.1186/s13041-021-00843-1

Yujing Chen, Shiqiang Cheng + Show 11 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-021-00843-1

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Abstract

Cumulative evidence shows that gut microbiome can influence brain function and behavior via the inflammatory processes. However, the role of interaction between gut dysbiosis and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the development of anxiety and depression remains to be elucidated. In this study, a total of 3321 independent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci associated with gut microbiome were driven from genome-wide association study (GWAS). Using individual level genotype data from UK Biobank, we then calculated the polygenetic risk scoring (PRS) of 114 gut microbiome related traits. Moreover, regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the possible effect of interaction between gut microbiome and CRP on the risks of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) (N = 113,693) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) (N = 114,219). At last, 11 candidate CRP × gut microbiome interaction with suggestive significance was detected for PHQ-9 score, such as F_Ruminococcaceae (β = − 0.009, P = 2.2 × 10–3), G_Akkermansia (β = − 0.008, P = 7.60 × 10–3), F_Acidaminococcaceae (β = 0.008, P = 1.22 × 10–2), G_Holdemanella (β = − 0.007, P = 1.39 × 10–2) and O_Lactobacillales (β = 0.006, P = 1.79× 10–2). 16 candidate CRP × gut microbiome interaction with suggestive significance was detected for GAD-7 score, such as O_Bacteroidales (β = 0.010, P = 4.00× 10–4), O_Selenomonadales (β = − 0.010, P = 1.20 × 10–3), O_Clostridiales (β = 0.009, P = 2.70 × 10–3) and G_Holdemanella (β = − 0.008, P = 4.20 × 10–3). Our results support the significant effect of interaction between CRP and gut microbiome on the risks of anxiety and depression, and identified several candidate gut microbiomes for them.

Highlights

As common psychiatric disorders, the amount of people with depression and anxiety has increased over the past several decades leading to a growing concern in mental health research around the world [1]
Changes in the gut microbiome were likely to modulate the expression of the gut-derived peptides which were widely expressed in the brain and played well-established roles in the neurobiology of anxiety and depression [12]
Discussion previous studies have found the functional relevance of gut microbiome and C-reactive protein (CRP) with the development of anxiety and depression [34, 35], the biological mechanism underlying the effects of interaction between gut microbiome and CRP on the risks of anxiety and depression remains to be elucidated [36]

Summary

Introduction

The amount of people with depression and anxiety has increased over the past several decades leading to a growing concern in mental health research around the world [1]. According to the report of WHO, the global population suffering from depression was estimated to be 322 million, while anxiety disorders affected more than 260 million people, Various gut microbiome in the human intestine harbors forms a symbiotic relationship with the host and plays a vital role in both health and disease [5]. The dysbiosis of gut microbiome has been closely linked to increased risks of mental disorders [6]. Growing evidence indicated that alterations in the gut microbiome were associated with anxiety and depressive disorders [9,10,11]. Individuals with depression could be identified from healthy subjects by single nucleotide exact amplicon sequence variants of gut microbiome [9]

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