Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
The Center for Clinical Molecular Medical Detection, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 Mar 15;12:831186. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.831186. eCollection 2022.
Although many works have been done, the objectively measured diagnostic biomarkers are not available. Thus, we conducted this study to identify potential biomarkers for objectively diagnosing depression and explore the role of gut microbiota in the onset of depression.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) patients (n=56) and demographic data-matched healthy controls (HCs) (n=56) were included in this study. The gut microbiota in fecal samples and inflammation-related factors in serum were measured. Both univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to identify the differential gut microbiota and inflammation-related factors.
Finally, 46 differential operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (60.9% OTUs belonging to Firmicutes) and ten differential inflammation-related factors were identified. Correlation analysis showed that there were significant correlations between 14 differential OTUs (9 OTUs belonging to Firmicutes and 5 OTUs belonging to family Lachnospiraceae under Firmicutes) and seven differential inflammation-related factors. Meanwhile, 14 differential OTUs (9 OTUs belonging to Firmicutes and 5 OTUs belonging to family Lachnospiraceae under Firmicutes) and five differential inflammation-related factors (adiponectin, apolipoprotein A1, alpha 1-antitrypsin, neutrophilicgranulocyte count/white blood cell count and basophil count) were significantly correlated to depression severity. A panel consisting of these five differential inflammation-related factors could effectively diagnose MDD patients from HCs.
Our results suggested that Firmicutes, especially family Lachnospiraceae, might play a role in the onset of depression affecting the inflammation levels of host, and these five differential inflammation-related factors could be potential biomarkers for objectively diagnosing MDD.
尽管已经有很多研究，但仍缺乏客观测量的诊断生物标志物。因此，我们进行了这项研究，旨在寻找潜在的生物标志物来客观诊断抑郁症，并探讨肠道微生物群在抑郁症发病中的作用。
本研究纳入了 56 名重度抑郁症（MDD）患者和 56 名人口统计学数据匹配的健康对照者（HCs）。测量粪便样本中的肠道微生物群和血清中的炎症相关因子。采用单变量和多变量统计分析来识别差异的肠道微生物群和炎症相关因子。
最终，鉴定出 46 个差异操作分类单元（OTUs）（60.9%的 OTUs 属于厚壁菌门）和 10 个差异炎症相关因子。相关性分析表明，14 个差异 OTUs（9 个属于厚壁菌门，5 个属于厚壁菌门下的lachnospiraceae 科）与 7 个差异炎症相关因子之间存在显著相关性。同时，14 个差异 OTUs（9 个属于厚壁菌门，5 个属于厚壁菌门下的lachnospiraceae 科）和 5 个差异炎症相关因子（脂联素、载脂蛋白 A1、α1-抗胰蛋白酶、中性粒细胞计数/白细胞计数和嗜碱性粒细胞计数）与抑郁严重程度显著相关。由这 5 个差异炎症相关因子组成的面板可有效将 MDD 患者与 HCs 区分开。
我们的研究结果表明，厚壁菌门，特别是lachnospiraceae 科，可能在抑郁症发病中起作用，影响宿主的炎症水平，这 5 个差异炎症相关因子可能是客观诊断 MDD 的潜在生物标志物。
