Dataset Information

Fecal Short-Chain Fatty Acid Ratios as Related to Gastrointestinal and Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced by the gut microbiota and may reflect health. Gut symptoms are common in individuals with depressive disorders, and recent data indicate relationships between gut microbiota and psychiatric health. We aimed to investigate potential associations between SCFAs and self-reported depressive and gut symptoms in young adults.

Methods

Fecal samples from 164 individuals (125 were patients with psychiatric disorders: mean [standard deviation] age = 21.9 [2.6] years, 14% men; 39 nonpsychiatric controls: age = 28.5 [9.5] years, 38% men) were analyzed for the SCFA acetate, butyrate, and propionate by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We then compared SCFA ratios with dimensional measures of self-reported depressive and gut symptoms.

Results

Depressive symptoms showed a positive association with acetate levels (ρ = 0.235, p = .003) and negative associations with both butyrate (ρ = -0.195, p = .014) and propionate levels (ρ = -0.201, p = .009) in relation to total SCFA levels. Furthermore, symptoms of diarrhea showed positive associations with acetate (ρ = 0.217, p = .010) and negative associations with propionate in relation to total SCFA levels (ρ = 0.229, p = 0-007). Cluster analysis revealed a heterogeneous pattern where shifts in SCFA ratios were observed in individuals with elevated levels of depressive symptoms, elevated levels of gut symptoms, or both.

Conclusions

Shifts in SCFAs are associated with both depressive symptoms and gut symptoms in young adults and may have of relevance for treatment.

SUBMITTER: Muller B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8428857 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background>Patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders have a high psychiatric co-morbidity. This study aimed to investigate and characterise gastrointestinal symptoms in relation to depressive symptoms and trait anxiety in a well-defined population of young adult psychiatric outpatients and healthy controls.MethodsGastrointestinal symptoms were assessed with the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (GSRS-IBS). Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale- Self assessment (MADRS-S). Trait anxiety was estimated with three of the Swedish universities of Personality (SSP) scales: Somatic trait anxiety, Psychic trait anxiety and Stress susceptibility. Self-ratings were collected from 491 young adult psychiatric outpatients and 85 healthy controls. Gastrointestinal symptom severity was compared between patients with and without current psychotropic medication and controls. Associations between gastrointestinal symptoms, depressive symptoms and trait anxiety were assessed using Spearman's coefficients and generalized linear models adjusting for possible confounders (sex, body mass index, bulimia nervosa).ResultsPatients, with and without current psychotropic medication, reported significantly more gastrointestinal symptoms than controls. In the generalized linear models, total MADRS-S score (p < 0.001), Somatic trait anxiety (p < 0.001), Psychic trait anxiety (p = 0.002) and Stress susceptibility (p = 0.002) were independent predictors of the total GSRS-IBS score. Further exploratory analysis using unsupervised learning revealed a diverse spectrum of symptoms that clustered into six groups.ConclusionGastrointestinal symptoms are both highly prevalent and diverse in young adult psychiatric outpatients, regardless of current psychotropic medication. Depressive symptom severity and degree of trait anxiety are independently related to the total gastrointestinal symptom burden.