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Cited by 284Gut microbiota and healthGastrointestinal motility and disordersInflammatory Bowel Disease

Differences in gut microbial composition correlate with regional brain volumes in irritable bowel syndrome

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Labus, Jennifer S., Hollister, Emily B., Jacobs, Jonathan, Kirbach, Kyleigh, Oezguen, Numan, Gupta, Arpana, Acosta, Jonathan, Luna, Ruth Ann +6 more·2017·Microbiome
DOI 10.1186/s40168-017-0260-zPMC PMC5410709
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Preclinical and clinical evidence supports the concept of bidirectional brain-gut microbiome interactions. We aimed to determine if subgroups of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) subjects can be identified based on differences in gut microbial composition, and if there are correlations between gut microbial measures and structural brain signatures in IBS. METHODS: Behavioral measures, stool samples, and structural brain images were collected from 29 adult IBS and 23 healthy control subjects (HCs). 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing was used to profile stool microbial communities, and various multivariate analysis approaches were used to quantitate microbial composition, abundance, and diversity. The metagenomic content of samples was inferred from 16S rRNA gene sequence data using Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt). T1-weighted brain images were acquired on a Siemens Allegra 3T scanner, and morphological measures were computed for 165 brain regions. RESULTS: Using unweighted Unifrac distances with hierarchical clustering on microbial data, samples were clustered into two IBS subgroups within the IBS population (IBS1 (n = 13) and HC-like IBS (n = 16)) and HCs (n = 23) (AUROC = 0.96, sensitivity 0.95, specificity 0.67). A Random Forest classifier provided further support for the differentiation of IBS1 and HC groups. Microbes belonging to the genera Faecalibacterium, Blautia, and Bacteroides contributed to this subclassification. Clinical features distinguishing the groups included a history of early life trauma and duration of symptoms (greater in IBS1), but not self-reported bowel habits, anxiety, depression, or medication use. Gut microbial composition correlated with structural measures of brain regions including sensory- and salience-related regions, and with a history of early life trauma. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm previous reports of gut microbiome-based IBS subgroups and identify for the first time brain structural alterations associated with these subgroups. They provide preliminary evidence for the involvement of specific microbes and their predicted metabolites in these correlations.

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  • In healthy women, participants were separated into a Prevotella-high group (7 participants) and a Bacteroides-high group (32 participants) based on microbiota composition.

    “The analyzed participants (N=39) were separated into two identifiable groups based on microbiota composition: a Prevotella-high group with 7 participants, and a Bacteroides-high group of 32 participants.”

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

    The Results section ('Mean differences in clinical metadata between IBS subgroups based on microbial clusters'; page unavailable) identifies two groups of IBS participants: IBS1 (14) and HC-like IBS (15). It does not describe a split of 39 healthy women into Prevotella-high (7) and Bacteroides-high (32) groups; its reported population and group sizes are contrary to the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • This is one of the first reports of behavioral and neurobiological differences related to microbial composition in healthy humans.

    “Although small scale, this is one of the first reports of behavioral and neurobiological differences related to microbial composition in healthy humans.”

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

    The Abstract (Results and Conclusions; no page given) links microbial composition to brain structure and describes the brain findings as a first report for IBS subgroups. The Results and Discussion report an association with early-life trauma in IBS, but not with anxiety or depression; the paper does not establish behavioral and neurobiological differences related to microbial composition specifically among healthy humans. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Differential responses to negatively-valenced images were observed such that negative affect was associated with functional and structural differences in the right hippocampus within the Prevotella group.

    “Differential responses to negatively-valenced images were observed such that negative affect was associated with functional and structural differences in the right hippocampus within the Prevotella group.”

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

    The Methods (Neuroimaging, segmentation, and parcellation; page unavailable) describe structural T1-weighted imaging, while the Results (Association between brain structure and discriminative microbiota in IBS subjects; page unavailable) report associations between bacterial classes and regional brain volumes. Searches for negatively valenced images, negative affect, Prevotella, and hippocampal findings found no passage reporting the claimed functional and structural differences in the right hippocampus within a Prevotella group. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
Labus, J. S., Hollister, E. B., Jacobs, J., Kirbach, K., Oezguen, N., Gupta, A., Acosta, J., Luna, R. A., Aagaard, K., Versalovic, J., Savidge, T., Hsiao, E., Tillisch, K., & Mayer, E. A.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Baylor College of Medicine (US)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
Corresponding author
  • Labus, Jennifer S.
  • Mayer, Emeran A.
ORCID
Venue
Microbiome
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-05-01
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
49-49
ISSN
2049-2618 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s40168-017-0260-z
PMC
PMC5410709
OpenAlex
W2608571065
Cited by
284
References
22
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 10
FWCI
13.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Microbiome (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Commons@Becker (Washington University School of Medicine) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P50 DK064539, R01 DK048351)
  • National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (R01 AT007137)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Keywords
irritable bowel syndrome, gut microbiota, gut-brain axis, early trauma, Faecalibacterium, Blautia, Bacteroides, microbial metabolites, salience network, sensory networks, 16S rRNA gene sequencing
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adult, Bacteria, Brain, DNA, Bacterial, DNA, Ribosomal, Feces, Female, Humans, Male, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Young Adult

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