title: Altered fecal microbiota composition in patients with major depressive disorder.
abstract: Studies using animal models have shown that depression affects the stability of the microbiota, but the actual structure and composition in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are not well understood. Here, we analyzed fecal samples from 46 patients with depression (29 active-MDD and 17 responded-MDD) and 30 healthy controls (HCs). High-throughput pyrosequencing showed that, according to the Shannon index, increased fecal bacterial α-diversity was found in the active-MDD (A-MDD) vs. the HC group but not in the responded-MDD (R-MDD) vs. the HC group. Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria strongly increased in level, whereas that of Firmicutes was significantly reduced in the A-MDD and R-MDD groups compared with the HC group. Despite profound interindividual variability, levels of several predominant genera were significantly different between the MDD and HC groups. Most notably, the MDD groups had increased levels of Enterobacteriaceae and Alistipes but reduced levels of Faecalibacterium. A negative correlation was observed between Faecalibacterium and the severity of depressive symptoms. These findings enable a better understanding of changes in the fecal microbiota composition in such patients, showing either a predominance of some potentially harmful bacterial groups or a reduction in beneficial bacterial genera. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the temporal and causal relationships between gut microbiota and depression and to evaluate the suitability of the microbiome as a biomarker.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Haiyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Zongxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Seventh People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Yonghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Seventh People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Hongjin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital of Hengshui, Hebei 053000, China.
authors.forename: Zhanping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Seventh People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou, Zhejiang 313000, China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Seventh People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Wenxin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Seventh People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Zhonglin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Seventh People's Hospital of Hangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China.
authors.forename: Jianfei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China. Electronic address: ljli@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lanjuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China. Electronic address: hzruanbing@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ruan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000382:microbiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Antidepressant; Depression; Gut bacteria; Gut–brain; Inflammation