Prenatal metal exposures and childhood gut microbial signatures are associated with depression score in late childhood.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Childhood depression is a major public health issue worldwide. Previous studies have linked both prenatal metal exposures and the gut microbiome to depression in children. However, few, if any, have studied their interacting effect in specific subgroups of children.

Objectives

Using an interpretable machine-learning method, this study investigates whether children with specific combinations of prenatal metals and childhood microbial signatures (cliques or groups of metals and microbes) were more likely to have higher depression scores at 9-11 years of age.

Methods

We leveraged data from a well-characterized pediatric longitudinal birth cohort in Mexico City and its microbiome substudy (n = 112). Eleven metal exposures were measured in maternal whole blood s

SUBMITTER: Midya V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10922719 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature