Cited by 235Gut microbiota and healthBipolar Disorder and TreatmentSchizophrenia research and treatment

Interaction Between Atypical Antipsychotics and the Gut Microbiome in a Bipolar Disease Cohort

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Flowers, Stephanie A., Evans, Simon J., Ward, Kristen M., McInnis, Melvin G., Ellingrod, Vicki L.·2017·Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy

Abstract

Objectives: The atypical antipsychotic (AAP) class is often associated with metabolic disease, but the mechanistic underpinnings of this risk are not understood. Due to reports linking gut bacteria function to metabolic disease, we hypothesize that AAP treatment in adults results in gut dysbiosis potentiating metabolic criteria. This report describes recent findings linking AAP treatment with differences in gut microbiota communities in a human cohort with bipolar disorder (BD). Methods: In a cross‐sectional design, we obtained 16S ribosomal sequences from 117 BD patients (49 AAP treated, 68 non‐AAP treated). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was used to detect significant clustering of microbial communities between groups, and the inverse Simpson Diversity Index was used to calculate alpha diversity. Detection of differentially abundant operational taxonomic units (OTU s) between groups was performed using linear discriminant analysis effect size. Results: The AAP‐treated cohort was significantly younger and had an increased body mass index compared with non‐AAP‐treated patients. Groups did not differ in other psychotropic medication use with the exception of higher use of benzodiazepines in the AAP cohort. We detected significant separation between microbiota communities of AAP‐treated and nontreated patients (AMOVA; p=0.04). AAP‐treated females showed significant decreased species diversity when compared with non‐AAP‐treated females (p=0.015). Males showed no significant diversity between treatment groups (p=0.8). Differentially abundant OTU s between treatment groups were OTU 1, OTU 25, and OTU 32 that classified to Lachnospiraceae, Akkermansia, and Sutterella, respectively. Conclusions: These data suggest that AAP treatment is associated with specific representation of gut bacterial families in AAP‐treated patients. In addition, AAP treatment is associated with decreased species richness in female AAP‐treated patients.

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  • Atypical antipsychotics induced a decrease in microbial diversity in patients with bipolar disease, with the effect present in females but not males.

    “Another recent study of patients with bipolar disease found that atypical antipsychotics induced a decrease in microbial diversity, with the effect being present in females but not in males (Flowers et al., 2017).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Flowers et al., 2017

    The Results (Participant Demographics; page not provided) report lower microbial diversity in AAP-treated females than in non-AAP-treated females, but no significant difference among males. The Methods (Abstract; page not provided) describe a cross-sectional comparison, so the study supports an association, not the claim that antipsychotics induced the decrease. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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  • In bipolar cohort, atypical antipsychotics treated individuals had significant increase in Lachnospiraceae and significant decrease in Akkermansia.

    “At the microbiota genus level, individuals in this bipolar cohort treated with atypical antipsychotics exhibited a significant increase in Lachnospiraceae abundance and a significant decrease in Akkermansia.”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Flowers et al., 2017

    The Participant Demographics results report that the Lachnospiraceae-classified OTU was more abundant in AAP-treated patients, while the Akkermansia-classified OTU was more abundant in untreated patients; both differences remained significant after adjustment. The claim's genus-level description is imprecise: the paper reports differences in classified OTUs, and Lachnospiraceae is a family, not a genus. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Flowers, S. A., Evans, S. J., Ward, K. M., McInnis, M. G., & Ellingrod, V. L.
Affiliations
University of Michigan (US)
Corresponding author
Ellingrod, Vicki L.
Venue
Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-02-20
Volume
37
Issue
3
Pages
261-267
ISSN
  • 0277-0008 (ISSN-L)
  • 1875-9114
OpenAlex
W2562779988
Cited by
235
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 5
FWCI
11.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Pharmacotherapy The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund
  • Richard Tam Foundation
  • University of Michigan Depression Center
  • National Institute for Mental Health (R01MH082784)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Bipolar Disorder and Treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
Keywords
atypical antipsychotics, gut microbiota, bipolar disorder, gut dysbiosis, metabolic side effects, microbial diversity, sex differences, Akkermansia, Lachnospiraceae, Sutterella, benzodiazepines, body mass index
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Bipolar Disorder, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Sex Factors, Antipsychotic Agents, Body Mass Index, Discriminant Analysis

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