Gut microbial biomarkers for the treatment response in first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia: a 24-week follow-up study

Abstract

Preclinical studies have shown that the gut microbiota can play a role in schizophrenia (SCH) pathogenesis via the gut-brain axis. However, its role in the antipsychotic treatment response is unclear. Here, we present a 24-week follow-up study to identify gut microbial biomarkers for SCH diagnosis and treatment response, using a sample of 107 first-episode, drug-naive SCH patients, and 107 healthy controls (HCs). We collected biological samples at baseline (all participants) and follow-up time points after risperidone treatment (SCH patients). Treatment response was assessed using the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale total (PANSS-T) score. False discovery rate was used to correct for multiple testing. We found that SCH patients showed lower alpha-diversity (the Shannon and Simpson's indices) compared to HCs at baseline (p = 1.21 x 10(-9), 1.23 x 10(-8), respectively). We also found a significant difference in beta-diversity between SCH patients and HCs (p = 0.001). At baseline, using microbes that showed different abundance between patients and controls as predictors, a prediction model can distinguish patients from HCs with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.867. In SCH patients, after 24 weeks of risperidone treatment, we observed an increase of alpha-diversity toward the basal level of HCs. At the genus level, we observed decreased abundance of Lachnoclostridium (p = 0.019) and increased abundance Romboutsia (p = 0.067). Moreover, the treatment response in SCH patients was significantly associated with the basal levels of Lachnoclostridium and Romboutsia (p = 0.005 and 0.006, respectively). Our results suggest that SCH patients may present characteristic microbiota, and certain microbiota biomarkers may predict treatment response in this patient population.