Marked shifts in gut microbial structure and neurotransmitter metabolism in fresh inmates revealed a close link between gut microbiota and mental health: A case-controlled study

Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide - new insights into gut microbiota and male infertility through meta-analysis

Background

Ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are produced during digestion in the human gut, yet the impact of these internally generated gases on male reproduction have received limited attention in scientific research.

Methods

We systematically reviewed 935 scientific publications, spanning from 1947 to 2023, focusing on external or internal NH3 and/or H2S, male infertility, and gut microbiota. Meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the summary relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of combined studies.

Results

Our findings revealed that the internal NH3 and/or H2S were negatively related to the Lactobacillus, which is beneficial to male fertility, whereas NH3 and H2S were positively related to Bacteroides, which showed negative effects on male fertility. The meta-analysis comparing Lactobacillus and Bacteroides levels with NH3 showed statistically significant results (p<0.001).

Conclusions

The meta-analysis is the first to confirm these facts and explored the potential existence of a gut microbiota-inner gases-male fertility axis in the human gut.

Oral bacteriome and mycobiome of patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy with different tongue coatings treated with a Chinese herbal formula

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Moshen Fuyuan Formula (MSFY) is one of the representative Chinese medicine compound for Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN), that originate from Fang Ji Huang Qi decoction in the Han dynasty. IMN is usually accompanied by different tongue coatings in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and tongue microorganisms are important factors affecting the formation of the tongue coating. Recently, oral microbiomes, including bacteria and fungi, have been identified as pivotal factors that contribute to disease development. However, the regulation of oral microbiomes by MSFY has not been defined.

AIM OF THE STUDY

In this work, we explore the characteristics of oral bacteria and fungi in IMN patients with different tongue coatings, and clarify the therapeutic effect of MSFY based on oral microbiome.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We enrolled 24 patients with IMN, including 11 with white tongue (IMN-W) and 13 with yellow tongue (IMN-Y), and recruited an additional 10 healthy individuals. Patients with IMN were treated with the MSFY. The oral bacteriome and fungi before and after treatment were detected using full-length 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer gene sequencing.

RESULTS

The therapeutic effect of MSFY on patients with yellow tongue coating was more significant than that on patients with white tongue coating. In terms of oral bacteriome, Campylobacter bacteria were enriched in patients with yellow tongue and could be a promising biomarker for yellow coating. Enrichment of Veillonella parvula_A may partially account for the therapeutic effect of MSFY. As for oral fungi, Malassezia globosa was enhanced in patients with IMN-W and reduced in patients with IMN-Y. Notably, it was reduced by MSFY. We also found that mycobiome-bacteriome interactions were highly complex and dynamic in patients with IMN.

CONCLUSION

The regulation of the dynamic balance between oral fungi and bacteria by MSFY contributes to the treatment of IMN. This study determined the oral bacteriome and mycobiome of patients with IMN with different tongue coatings before and after MSFY treatment, which aids in promoting personalized treatment in clinical TCM and provides direction for investigating the mechanism of Chinese herbal medicines.

The Intersection of Ultra-Processed Foods, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and Neurolaw: Implications for Criminal Justice

Over the last decade there has been increasing interest in the links between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and various neuropsychiatric disorders, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Neurolaw is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to translate the rapid and voluminous advances in brain science into legal decisions and policy. An enhanced understanding of biophysiological mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods influence brain and behavior allows for a historical reexamination of one of forensic neuropsychiatry's most famous cases-The People v. White and its associated 'Twinkie Defense'. Here in this Viewpoint article, we pair original court transcripts with emergent research in neurolaw, including nutritional neuroscience, microbiome sciences (legalome), pre-clinical mechanistic research, and clinical intervention trials. Advances in neuroscience, and related fields such as the microbiome, are challenging basic assumptions in the criminal justice system, including notions of universal free will. Recent dismissals of criminal charges related to auto-brewery syndrome demonstrate that courts are open to advances at the intersection of neuromicrobiology and nutritional neuroscience, including those that relate to criminal intent and diminished capacity. As such, it is our contention that experts in the neurosciences will play an increasing role in shaping research that underpins 21st-century courtroom discourse, policy, and decision-making.

Vitamin-mediated interaction between the gut microbiome and mitochondria in depression: A systematic review-based integrated perspective

Depression is one of the world's most prevalent mental disorders and its treatment remains suboptimal. Depression is a systemic disease with highly complex biological mechanisms. Emerging evidence points towards the involvement of mitochondria, microbiome and vitamins in its pathophysiology. Mitochondrial energy production was shown to be lowered in patients with depression. Mitochondrial energy production depends on vitamins, which are available from food, but are also synthesized by the gut microbiota. Several studies reported altered vitamin levels as well as changes in the gut microbiome composition and its vitamin metabolism in patients with depression. Therefore, the question of a connection between mitochondria and gut microbiome and vitamins influencing the mental health arises. This review aims to systematically investigate a combination of the topics - depression, mitochondria, microbiome, and vitamins - to generate an overview of a novel yet extremely complex and interconnected research field. A systematic literature search yielded 34 articles, and the results were summarized and bundled to develop this new integrative perspective on mitochondrial function mediated by the microbiome and microbiome-derived vitamins in depression. Furthermore, by discussing the research gaps this review aims to encourage innovative research approaches to better understand the biology of depression, which could result in optimized therapeutic approaches.

Short-term exposures to PM2.5, PM2.5 chemical components, and antenatal depression: Exploring the mediating roles of gut microbiota and fecal short-chain fatty acids

BACKGROUND

PM2.5 and its chemical components increase health risks and are associated with depression and gut microbiota. However, there is still limited evidence on whether gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) mediate the association between PM2.5, PM2.5 chemical components, and antenatal depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of maternal gut microbiota in correlations between short-term exposure to PM2.5, short-term exposure to PM2.5 chemical components, and antenatal depression.

METHODS

Demographic information and stool samples were collected from 75 pregnant women in their third trimester. Their exposure to PM2.5 and PM2.5 chemical components was measured. Participants were divided into the non-antenatal depression group or the antenatal depression group according to the cut-off of 10 points on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The gut microbiota were analyzed using the 16 S rRNA-V3/V4 gene sequence, and the concentration of PM2.5 and its chemical components was calculated using the Tracking Air Pollution in China (TAP) database. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyze SCFAs in stool samples. In order to assess the mediating effects of gut microbiota and SCFAs, mediation models were utilized.

RESULTS

There were significant differences between gut microbial composition and SCFAs concentrations between the non-antenatal depression group and the antenatal depression group. PM2.5 and its chemical components were positively associated with EPDS scores and negatively associated with genera Enterococcus and Enterobacter. Genera Candidatus_Soleaferrea (β = -7.21, 95%CI -11.00 to -3.43, q = 0.01) and Enterococcus (β = -2.37, 95%CI -3.87 to -0.87, q = 0.02) were negatively associated with EPDS scores, indicating their potential protective effects against antenatal depression. There was no significant association between SCFAs and EPDS scores. The mediating role of Enterococcus between different lagged periods of PM2.5, PM2.5 chemical component exposure, and antenatal depression was revealed. For instance, Enterococcus explained 29.23% (95%CI 2.16-87.13%, p = 0.04) of associations between PM2.5 exposure level at the day of sampling (lag 0) and EPDS scores.

CONCLUSION

Our study highlights that Enterococcus may mediate the associations between PM2.5, PM2.5 chemical components, and antenatal depression. The mediating mechanism through which the gut microbiota influences PM2.5-induced depression in pregnant women still needs to be further studied.

Gut microbiota-based discovery of Houttuyniae Herba as a novel prebiotic of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron with anti-colitis activity

Ulcerative colitis (UC) represents an inflammatory disease characterized by fluctuations in severity, posing substantial challenges in treatment. The gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of UC. This study sought to identify drugs specifically targeting the gut microbiota to mitigate UC. We initiated a meta-analysis on gut microbiota in UC patients to identify UC-associated bacterial strains. Subsequently, we screened 164 dietary herbal medicines in vitro to identify potential prebiotics for the UC-associated bacterium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. The DSS-induced colitis mouse model was utilized to evaluate the anti-colitis efficacy of the identified dietary herbal medicine. Full-length 16 S rRNA amplicon sequencing was employed to observe changes in gut microbiota following dietary herbal medicine intervention. The relative abundance of Bacteroides was notably diminished in UC patients compared to their healthy counterparts. B. thetaiotaomicron exhibited an inverse relationship with UC symptoms, indicating its potential as an anti-colitis agent. In vitro assessments revealed that H. Herba significantly bolstered the proliferation of B. thetaiotaomicron. Further experiments showed that treating DSS-induced mice with an aqueous extract of H. Herba considerably alleviated colitis indicators such as weight loss, colon shortening, disease activity score (DAI), and systemic inflammation. Microbial analysis revealed B. thetaiotaomicron as the sole bacterium substantially augmented by H. Herba in vivo. Overall H. Herba emerges as a promising prebiotic for B. thetaiotaomicron, offering significant anti-colitis benefits. Employing a gut microbiota-centric approach proves valuable in the quest for drug discovery.This study provides a new paradigm for drug discovery that targets the gut microbiota to treat UC.

Regulation of miRNA expression in the prefrontal cortex by fecal microbiota transplantation in anxiety-like mice

Background

The gut-brain axis and gut microbiota have emerged as key players in emotional disorders. Recent studies suggest that alterations in gut microbiota may impact psychiatric symptoms through brain miRNA along the gut-brain axis. However, direct evidence linking gut microbiota to the pathophysiology of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) via brain miRNA is limited. In this study, we explored the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from GAD donors on gut microbiota and prefrontal cortex miRNA in recipient mice, aiming to understand the relationship between these two factors.

Methods

Anxiety scores and gut microbiota composition were assessed in GAD patients, and their fecal samples were utilized for FMT in C57BL/6J mice. Anxiety-like behavior in mice was evaluated using open field and elevated plus maze tests. High-throughput sequencing of gut microbiota 16S rRNA and prefrontal cortex miRNA was performed.

Results

The fecal microbiota of GAD patients exhibited a distinct microbial structure compared to the healthy group, characterized by a significant decrease in Verrucomicrobia and Akkermansia, and a significant increase in Actinobacteria and Bacteroides. Subsequent FMT from GAD patients to mice induced anxiety-like behavior in recipients. Detailed analysis of gut microbiota composition revealed lower abundances of Verrucomicrobia, Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium, and Butyricimonas, and higher abundances of Deferribacteres, Allobaculum, Bacteroides, and Clostridium in mice that received FMT from GAD patients. MiRNA analysis identified five key miRNAs affecting GAD pathogenesis, including mmu-miR-10a-5p, mmu-miR-1224-5p, mmu-miR-218-5p, mmu-miR-10b-5p, and mmu-miR-488-3p. Notably, mmu-miR-488-3p showed a strong negative correlation with Verrucomicrobia and Akkermansia.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that anxiety-like behavior induced by human FMT can be transmitted through gut microbiota and is associated with miRNA expression in the prefrontal cortex. It is inferred that the reduction of Akkermansia caused by FMT from GAD patients leads to the upregulation of mmu-miR-488-3p expression, resulting in the downregulation of its downstream target gene Creb1 and interference with its related signaling pathway. These findings highlight the gut microbiota's crucial role in the GAD pathophysiology.

The different trends in the burden of neurological and mental disorders following dietary transition in China, the USA, and the world: An extension analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Introduction

The highly processed western diet is substituting the low-processed traditional diet in the last decades globally. Increasing research found that a diet with poor quality such as western diet disrupts gut microbiota and increases the susceptibility to various neurological and mental disorders, while a balanced diet regulates gut microbiota and prevents and alleviates the neurological and mental disorders. Yet, there is limited research on the association between the disease burden expanding of neurological and mental disorders with a dietary transition.

Methods

We compared the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) trend by age for neurological and mental disorders in China, in the United States of America (USA), and across the world from 1990 to 2019, evaluated the dietary transition in the past 60 years, and analyzed the association between the burden trend of the two disorders with the changes in diet composition and food production.

Results

We identified an age-related upward pattern in disease burden in China. Compared with the USA and the world, the Chinese neurological and mental disorders DALY percent was least in the generation over 75 but rapidly increased in younger generations and surpassed the USA and/or the world in the last decades. The age-related upward pattern in Chinese disease burdens had not only shown in the presence of cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, and diabetes mellitus but also appeared in the presence of depressive disorders, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, schizophrenia, headache disorders, anxiety disorders, conduct disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and eating disorders, successively. Additionally, the upward trend was associated with the dramatic dietary transition including a reduction in dietary quality and food production sustainability, during which the younger generation is more affected than the older. Following the increase in total calorie intake, alcohol intake, ratios of animal to vegetal foods, and poultry meat to pulses, the burdens of the above diseases continuously rose. Then, following the rise of the ratios of meat to pulses, eggs to pulses, and pork to pulses, the usage of fertilizers, the farming density of pigs, and the burdens of the above disease except diabetes mellitus were also ever-increasing. Even the usage of pesticides was positively correlated with the burdens of Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, cardiovascular diseases, and neoplasms. Contrary to China, the corresponding burdens of the USA trended to reduce with the improvements in diet quality and food production sustainability.

Discussion

Our results suggest that improving diet quality and food production sustainability might be a promising way to stop the expanding burdens of neurological and mental disorders.