Multi-omics approach identifies gut microbiota variations associated with depression
The gut microbiota plays a potential role in the pathophysiology of depression through the gut-brain axis. This cross-sectional study in 400 participants from the PREDIMED-Plus study investigates the interplay between gut microbiota and depression using a multi-omics approach. Depression was defined as antidepressant use or high Beck Depression Inventory-II scores. Gut microbiota was characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing, and faecal metabolites were analysed via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Participants with depression exhibited significant differences in gut microbial composition and metabolic profiles. Differentially abundant taxa included Acidaminococcus, Christensenellaceae R-7 group, and Megasphaera, among others. Metabolomic analysis revealed 15 significantly altered metabolites, primarily lipids, organic acids, and benzenoids, some of which correlated with gut microbial features. This study highlights the interplay between the gut microbiota and depression, paving the way for future research to determine whether gut microbiota influences depression pathophysiology or reflects changes associated with depression.
Authors
- Isabel Moreno‐Indias (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6121-151X)
- Fenglei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9496-0525)
- Montserrat Fitó (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1817-483X)
- Josép Vidal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4564-4518)
- Alessandro Atzeni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1804-8606)
- Dolores Corella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2366-4104)
- Prokopis Konstanti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7160-1696)
- Jiaqi Ni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5625-0373)
- Clara Belzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6922-836X)
- Miguel Ruiz-Canela
- Jesús Vioqué (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2284-148X)
- Jesús Francisco García-Gavilán (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3707-5255)
- Liming Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8261-3174)
- Courtney Dennis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3565-3904)
- Laura Torres‐Collado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2842-1344)
- Frank B. Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8233-6274)
- Miguel Ángel Martínez‐González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3917-9808)
- Clary B. Clish (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8259-9245)
- Francisco José Tinahones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6871-4403)
- Virginia Mela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7702-0972)
- Javier Hernando‐Redondo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6777-1649)
- Óscar Coltell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4518-8495)
- Nancy Babió (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3527-5277)
- Adrián Hernández-Cacho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5250-1048)
- Jordi Salas-Salvadó
Institutions
- Broad Institute (US)
- Universitat Jaume I (ES)
- Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx (ES)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Universitat de València (ES)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (ES)
- Institut de Recerca Biomèdica Catalunya Sud (ES)
- Navarre Institute of Health Research (ES)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (ES)
- Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer (ES)
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL) (ES)
- Universitat Rovira i Virgili (ES)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- Universidad de Navarra (ES)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
- Published
- 2025-04-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-025-00707-9
- Citations
- 17
- Primary Topic
- Gut microbiota and health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 13.70
Funders
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Broad Institute
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- Generalitat Valenciana
- Universitat de València
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
- Universidad de Navarra
- Universitat de Barcelona
- Universitat Rovira i Virgili
- Junta de Andalucía
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas
- National Institutes of Health
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III
- European Regional Development Fund
- FP7 Science in Society