Gut microbiome and schizophrenia: insights from two-sample Mendelian randomization
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests a potential link between the gut microbiome and schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether the gut microbiome is causally associated with schizophrenia. We performed two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization to detect bidirectional causal relationships between gut microbiome and schizophrenia. Summary genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets of the gut microbiome from the MiBioGen consortium (n = 18,340) and schizophrenia (n = 130,644) were utilized in our study. Then a cohort of sensitive analyses was followed to validate the robustness of MR results. We identified nine taxa that exerted positive causal effects on schizophrenia (OR: 1.08–1.16) and six taxa that conferred negative causal effects on schizophrenia (OR: 0.88–0.94). On the other hand, the reverse MR analysis showed that schizophrenia may increase the abundance of nine taxa (OR: 1.03–1.08) and reduce the abundance of two taxa (OR: 0.94). Our study unveiled mutual causal relationships between gut microbiome and schizophrenia. The findings may provide evidence for the treatment potential of gut microbiomes in schizophrenia.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 130,644 participants or records.
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