Abstract
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.
Highlights
The gut microbiota can control the expression of a variety of neurotrophic factors, such as brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which can affect neural development and the plasticity of the brain[13]
Previous studies found that SZ often showed increased regional homogeneity (ReHo) in the inferior and middle temporal a reas[22], the bilateral superior medial prefrontal cortex[20], the right superior frontal gyrus, the right superior temporal cortex (STC)[24] and the fusiform gyrus[22] but decreased ReHo in the right precentral lobule, the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL), the left paracentral lobule[20], the left postcentral gyrus and the left STG24 compared with normal control subjects (NCs)
The main findings are as follows: (1) Consistent with previous studies, significant between-group differences in the gut microbiota and Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indexes were found; (2) in SZ patients, both the alpha diversity evenness and Shannon indexes showed a positive correlation with the gray matter volume (GMV) and ReHo indexes in several brain regions; and (3) in SZ patients, the ReHo indexes in the right STC, left cuneus and right MTC were negatively correlated with the relative abundance of the genus Roseburia
Summary
The gut microbiota can control the expression of a variety of neurotrophic factors, such as brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which can affect neural development and the plasticity of the brain[13]. We hypothesized that in SZ patients, the between-group differences in gut microbial composition might be associated with the between-group differences in the GMV, ReHo and ALFF indexes. To this end, we recruited 76 participants, including 38 SZ patients and 38 NCs, and collected their rs-fMRI data and stool samples. We analyzed the correlation between the gut microbiome and the GMV, ReHo and ALFF indexes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call