TY - JOUR
T1 - Bacterial gut microbiome differences in adults with ADHD and in children with ADHD on psychostimulant medication
AU - Stiernborg, Miranda
AU - Debelius, J. W.
AU - Yang, Liu L.
AU - Skott, Elin
AU - Millischer, Vincent
AU - Giacobini, Mai Britt
AU - Melas, Philippe A.
AU - Boulund, Fredrik
AU - Lavebratt, Catharina
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Swedish Research Council, Sweden (2014–10171 to CL), the Swedish Brain Foundation, Sweden (FO2020-0305 and FO2021-0412 to CL), Bo and Ulla Lundevall, Ekhaga Foundation, Sweden (2016–47), the regional agreement on medical training and clinical research (ALF) between Stockholm County Council and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden (SLL20190589 to CL). The funders had no role in study design, sample collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing of the manuscript and the decision to submit for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/5
Y1 - 2023/5
N2 - Recent evidence suggests that there is a link between neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and the gut microbiome. However, most studies to date have had low sample sizes, have not investigated the impact of psychostimulant medication, and have not adjusted for potential confounders, including body mass index, stool consistency and diet. To this end, we conducted the largest, to our knowledge, fecal shotgun metagenomic sequencing study in ADHD, with 147 well-characterized adult and child patients. For a subset of individuals, plasma levels of inflammatory markers and short-chain fatty acids were also measured. In adult ADHD patients (n = 84), compared to controls (n = 52), we found a significant difference in beta diversity both regarding bacterial strains (taxonomic) and bacterial genes (functional). In children with ADHD (n = 63), we found that those on psychostimulant medication (n = 33 on medication vs. n = 30 not on medication) had (i) significantly different taxonomic beta diversity, (ii) lower functional and taxonomic evenness, (iii) lower abundance of the strain Bacteroides stercoris CL09T03C01 and bacterial genes encoding an enzyme in vitamin B12 synthesis, and (iv) higher plasma levels of vascular inflammatory markers sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1. Our study continues to support a role for the gut microbiome in neurodevelopmental disorders and provides additional insights into the effects of psychostimulant medication. However, additional studies are needed to replicate these findings and examine causal relationships with the disorder.
AB - Recent evidence suggests that there is a link between neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and the gut microbiome. However, most studies to date have had low sample sizes, have not investigated the impact of psychostimulant medication, and have not adjusted for potential confounders, including body mass index, stool consistency and diet. To this end, we conducted the largest, to our knowledge, fecal shotgun metagenomic sequencing study in ADHD, with 147 well-characterized adult and child patients. For a subset of individuals, plasma levels of inflammatory markers and short-chain fatty acids were also measured. In adult ADHD patients (n = 84), compared to controls (n = 52), we found a significant difference in beta diversity both regarding bacterial strains (taxonomic) and bacterial genes (functional). In children with ADHD (n = 63), we found that those on psychostimulant medication (n = 33 on medication vs. n = 30 not on medication) had (i) significantly different taxonomic beta diversity, (ii) lower functional and taxonomic evenness, (iii) lower abundance of the strain Bacteroides stercoris CL09T03C01 and bacterial genes encoding an enzyme in vitamin B12 synthesis, and (iv) higher plasma levels of vascular inflammatory markers sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1. Our study continues to support a role for the gut microbiome in neurodevelopmental disorders and provides additional insights into the effects of psychostimulant medication. However, additional studies are needed to replicate these findings and examine causal relationships with the disorder.
KW - ADHD
KW - Gut brain axis
KW - Gut microbiome
KW - Human fecal bacteria
KW - Neurodevelopmental disorders
KW - Shotgun sequencing
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.03.012
DO - 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.03.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 36940753
AN - SCOPUS:85151288338
SN - 0889-1591
VL - 110
SP - 310
EP - 321
JO - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
JF - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
ER -