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Gut microbiota and metabolic signatures of anxiety in ulcerative colitis: a cross-sectional study

Yi Ping, Xuefei Zhao, Linling Lv, Wei Meng, Yue Meng, Guang-Cong Ruan, Yi Cheng, Zhi-Feng Xiao et al.

Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology, 2025

126 participants · 1 citation

Abstract

Background: Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) usually experience anxiety symptoms that seriously affect their quality of life, treatment, and prognosis. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota plays an important role in UC and mental illness. However, little is known about the role of the gut microbiota in UC patients with anxiety. Objectives: To identify the gut-microbiome and fecal metabolome profiles uniquely associated with comorbid anxiety in UC patients and to explore potential biomarkers for diagnosis. Design: A cross-sectional, two-group comparative study. Methods: To study the underlying association between them, we recruited 126 UC patients in this study, including 78 with anxiety and 48 without anxiety. A total of 102 fecal samples were collected for metagenomic sequencing and metabolome sequencing. Microbial diversity, differential gut microbiota, functional pathways, and metabolites were analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors associated with anxiety in UC patients, while Spearman correlation was employed to explore microbe-metabolite interactions and the performance of potential biomarkers. Results: We found that disease severity, steroid usage, and abdominal pain may promote the occurrence of anxiety. Compared to UC patients without anxiety, UC patients with anxiety had low fecal microbial community diversity, with an increase in the species Haemophilus sp. HMSC71H05 and Corynebacterium durum, and a decrease in the…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 126 participants or records.

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