Features of the gut microbiome in people with increased anxiety
Background: Anxiety and anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses worldwide. There is increasing evidence that the gut microbiome plays a role in the development of mental disorders. It has been established that the human intestine contains the second largest concentration of neurons after the brain, and it is connected to it by a bidirectional «microbiome-gut-brain communication axis». The aim of the study:To conduct a comparative assessment of the composition of the intestinal microbiota between a group of people who noted the presence of increased anxiety, as indicated by a high Spielberger-Hanin test score, with a group of people who did not note the presence of increased anxiety, with a low or moderate score, as indicated by a Spielberger-Hanin test score, living in the European part of Russia, followed by the construction of a prognostic model of such risk. Materials and methods: The study involved 28 men (average age 37.5 years) and 91 women (average age 38 years). The Spielberger-Hanin test and a general patient questionnaire were used to assess the level of anxiety. The experimental group under study consisted of 49 people, while the control group consisted of 70. The identification of the taxonomic composition of the intestinal microbiota was carried out by sequencing bacterial 16S rRNA genes followed by bioinformatic analysis. Statistical processing of the study results was carried out using linear discriminant (LEfSe) analysis and the Wilcoxon criterion. To build a predictive model, the linear regression method was used with the calculation of the AuRoc indicator. Results: We obtained significant differences between the experimental and control groups at the level of types, classes and genera of bacteria. In the experimental group, Actinobacteriota (p=0.008), Actinobacteria (p=0.014), Bifidobacterium (p=0.011), Subdoligranulum (p=0.031), Lachnospira (p=0.008), CAG_873 (p=0.014), Roseburia (p=0.019), Lactonifactor (p=0.02), Erisibelotrichacee UGG_003 (p=0.002), Eggerthella (p=0.021) were increased, and Lactobacillus (p=0.030), Rothia (p=0.047), Caprociproducens (p=0.030), Desulfovibrio (p=0.041), Caprobacter (p=0.037) were decreased. The calculated indicator of the AuRoc predictive model was 0.755. Conclusion: The use of the 16S rRNA gene sequencing method makes it possible to identify the features of the microbiome in people with increased anxiety. The data obtained can be useful for understanding the mechanisms of development and correction of these conditions, and the presence of certain bacterial taxa can be used as markers in predicting anxiety
Novokovich YuS, Glotov OS, Danilov LG, et al. Features of the gut microbiome in people with increased anxiety. Research Results in Biomedicine. 2025;11(3):574-591. Russian.
DOI:10.18413/2658-6533-2025-11-3-1-0
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