Gut Microbiota in Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review

Long Long Chen*, Afrouz Abbaspour, George F. Mkoma, Cynthia M. Bulik, Christian Ruck, Diana Djurfeldt

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)
14 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objective: This systematic review sought to comprehensively summarize gut microbiota research in psychiatric disorders following PRISMA guidelines.

Methods: Literature searches were performed on databases using keywords involving gutmicrobiota and psychiatric disorders. Articles in English with human participants up until February 13, 2020, were reviewed. Risk of bias was assessed using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for microbiota studies.

Results: Sixty-nine of 4231 identified studies met the inclusion criteria for extraction. In most studies, gut microbiota composition differed between individuals with psychiatric disorders and healthy controls; however, limited consistency was observed in the taxonomic profiles. At the genus level, themost replicated findingswere higher abundance of Bifidobacterium and lower abundance of Roseburia and Faecalibacterium among patients with psychiatric disorders.

Conclusions: Gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids, such as Roseburia and Faecalibacterium, could be less abundant in patients with psychiatric disorders, whereas commensal genera, for example, Bifidobacterium, might be more abundant compared with healthy controls. However, most included studies were hampered by methodological shortcomings including small sample size, unclear diagnostics, failure to address confounding factors, and inadequate bioinformatic processing, which might contribute to inconsistent results. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations to improve quality and comparability of future microbiota studies in psychiatry.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPsychosomatic Medicine
Volume83
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)679-692
Number of pages14
ISSN0033-3174
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • major depressive disorder
  • anorexia nervosa
  • bipolar disorder
  • schizophrenia
  • attention-deficit/hyperactivity
  • disorder
  • gut microbiota
  • FECAL MICROBIOTA
  • SODIUM-BUTYRATE
  • FAECALIBACTERIUM-PRAUSNITZII
  • ANOREXIA-NERVOSA
  • AUTISM
  • ASSOCIATION
  • DEPRESSION
  • DIVERSITY
  • CHILDREN
  • ANXIETY

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