Project description:Major depressive disorder is caused by gene-environment interactions and the gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the development of depression. However, the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota modulates depression remain elusive. Herein, we detected the differentially expressed hippocampal long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) between mice inoculated with gut microbiota from major depressive disorder patients or healthy controls, to identify the effects of gut microbiota-dysbiosis on gene regulation patterns at the transcriptome level. We also performed functional analysis to explore the microbial-regulated pathological mechanisms of depression. Two hundred mRNAs, 358 lncRNAs and 4 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two groups. Functional analysis of these differentially expressed mRNAs indicated dysregulated inflammatory response to be the primary pathological change. Intersecting the differentially expressed mRNAs with targets of differentially expressed miRNAs identified 47 intersected mRNAs, which were mainly related to neurodevelopment. Additionally, we constructed a microbial-regulated lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network based on RNA-RNA interactions. According to the competitive endogenous RNA hypothesis, two neurodevelopmental ceRNA sub-networks implicating in depression were identified. This study provides new understanding of the pathogenesis of depression induced by gut microbiota-dysbiosis and may act as a theoretical basis for the development of gut microbiota-based antidepressants.
Project description:Major depressive disorder is caused by gene-environment interactions and the gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the development of depression. However, the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota modulates depression remain elusive. Herein, we detected the differentially expressed hippocampal long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) between mice inoculated with gut microbiota from major depressive disorder patients or healthy controls, to identify the effects of gut microbiota-dysbiosis on gene regulation patterns at the transcriptome level. We also performed functional analysis to explore the microbial-regulated pathological mechanisms of depression. Two hundred mRNAs, 358 lncRNAs and 4 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two groups. Functional analysis of these differentially expressed mRNAs indicated dysregulated inflammatory response to be the primary pathological change. Intersecting the differentially expressed mRNAs with targets of differentially expressed miRNAs identified 47 intersected mRNAs, which were mainly related to neurodevelopment. Additionally, we constructed a microbial-regulated lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network based on RNA-RNA interactions. According to the competitive endogenous RNA hypothesis, two neurodevelopmental ceRNA sub-networks implicating in depression were identified. This study provides new understanding of the pathogenesis of depression induced by gut microbiota-dysbiosis and may act as a theoretical basis for the development of gut microbiota-based antidepressants.
Project description:DNA methylation profiles were generating using Illumina HM450 microarrays in a prospective sample blood from the prenatal period of pregnant mood disorder patients who would and would not develop depression post partum. We recruited 54 pregnant women with a history of either Major Depression or Bipolar Disorder (I, II or NOS) and prospectively followed them during pregnancy and after delivery in order to identify genetic and clinical characteristics that precede the development of a postpartum depressive episode. Blood samples profiled were collected at varying time points during pregnancy.
Project description:RNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 24 adult healthy controls, 8 adult patients with bipolar disorder, and 21 adult patients with major depressive disorder to analyze gene expression patterns that identify biomarkers of disease and that may be correlated with fMRI data.
Project description:Emerging high-throughput proteomic technologies have recently been considered as a powerful means of identifying substrates involved in mood disorders. We performed proteomic profiling using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to identify dysregulated proteins in plasma samples of 44, 49, and 50 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia , respectively, in comparison to 51 healthy controls (HCs).
Project description:Emerging high-throughput proteomic technologies have recently been considered as a powerful means of identifying substrates involved in mood disorders. We performed proteomic profiling using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to identify dysregulated proteins in plasma samples of 44, 49, and 50 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia , respectively, in comparison to 51 healthy controls (HCs).
Project description:Accumulating evidence demonstrates that the gut microbiota affects brain function and behavior, including depressive behavior. Antidepressants are the main drugs used for treatment of depression. We hypothesized that antidepressant treatment could modify gut microbiota which can partially mediate their antidepressant effects. Mice were chronically treated with one of five antidepressants (fluoxetine, escitalopram, venlafaxine, duloxetine or desipramine), and gut microbiota was analyzed, using 16s rRNA gene sequencing. After characterization of differences in the microbiota, chosen bacterial species were supplemented to vehicle and antidepressant-treated mice, and depressive-like behavior was assessed to determine bacterial effects. RNA-seq analysis was performed to determine effects of bacterial treatment in the brain. Antidepressants reduced richness and increased beta diversity of gut bacteria, compared to controls. At the genus level, antidepressants reduced abundances of Ruminococcus, Adlercreutzia, and an unclassified Alphaproteobacteria. To examine implications of the dysregulated bacteria, we chose one of antidepressants (duloxetine) and investigated if its antidepressive effects can be attenuated by simultaneous treatment with Ruminococcus flavefaciens or Adlercreutzia equolifaciens. Supplementation with R. flavefaciens diminished duloxetine-induced decrease in depressive-like behavior, while A. equolifaciens had no such effect. R. flavefaciens treatment induced changes in cortical gene expression, up-regulating genes involved in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, while down-regulating genes involved in neuronal plasticity. Our results demonstrate that various types of antidepressants alter gut microbiota composition, and further implicate a role for R. flavefaciens in alleviating depressive-like behavior.
Project description:Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder encompassing a range of symptoms and etiology dependent upon the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Several risk genes, such as DISC1, have been associated with schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), consistent with the hypothesis that a shared genetic architecture could contribute to divergent clinical syndromes. The present study compared gene expression profiles across three brain regions in post-mortem tissue from matched subjects with schizophrenia, BPD or MDD and unaffected controls. Post-mortem brain tissue was collected from control subjects and well-matched subjects with schizophrenia, BPD, and MDD (n=19 from each group). RNA was isolated from hippocampus, Brodmann Area 46, and associative striatum and hybridized to U133_Plus2 Affymetrix chips. Data were normalized by RMA, subjected to pairwise comparison followed by Benjamini and Hochberg False Discovery Rate correction (FDR). Samples derived from patients with schizophrenia exhibited many more changes in gene expression across all brain regions than observed in BPD or MDD. Several genes showed changes in both schizophrenia and BPD, though the magnitude of change was usually larger in schizophrenia. Several genes that have variants associated with schizophrenia were found to have altered expression in multiple regions of brains from subjects with schizophrenia. Continued evaluation of circuit-level alterations in gene expression and gene-network relationships may further our understanding of how genetic variants may be influencing biological processes to contribute to psychiatric disease. Pre-frontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus were obtained from subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and matched controls.