The gut-microbiota-brain axis in a Spanish population in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic: microbiota composition linked to anxiety, trauma, and depression profiles

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of anxiety and depression soared following the COVID-19 pandemic. To effectively treat these conditions, a comprehensive understanding of all etiological factors is needed. This study investigated fecal microbial features associated with mental health outcomes (symptoms of anxiety, depression, or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) in a Spanish cohort in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Microbial communities from stool samples were profiled in 198 individuals who completed validated, self-report questionnaires. 16S ribosomal RNA gene V3-4 amplicon sequencing was performed. Microbial diversity and community structure were analyzed, together with relative taxonomic abundance. In our cohort of N=198, 17.17% reported depressive symptoms, 37.37% state anxiety symptoms, 40.90% trait anxiety symptoms, and 8.08% PTSD symptoms, with high levels of comorbidity. Individuals with trait anxiety had lower Simpson’s diversity. Fusicatenibacter saccharivorans was reduced in individuals with comorbid PTSD + depression + state and trait anxiety symptoms, whilst an expansion of Proteobacteria and depletion of Synergistetes phyla were noted in individuals with depressive symptoms. The relative abundance of Anaerostipes was positively correlated with childhood trauma, and higher levels of Turicibacter sanguinis and lower levels of Lentisphaerae were found in individuals who experienced life-threatening traumas. COVID-19 infection and vaccination influenced the overall microbial composition and were associated with distinct relative taxonomic abundance profiles. These findings will help lay the foundation for future studies to identify microbial role players in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD and provide future therapeutic targets to improve mental health outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Microbiome
• gut-microbiota-brain axis
• mental health
• anxiety
• depression
• trauma
• COVID-19
• posttraumatic stress disorder

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [S Malan-Müller], upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2022.2162306

Data deposition

The sequencing data have been deposited with links to BioProject accession number PRJNA887947 in the NCBI BioProject database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a 2018 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation (grant number 27050). SMM is a recipient of a Una4Career contract EU-UCM (European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 847635; UNA4CAREER (Horizon 2020 and Marie Skłodowska-Curie co-fund).