Gut microbial signatures in schizophrenia: exploring archaea, fungi, and bacteria.

SCH patients showed significantly lower archaeal α-diversity compared with healthy controls.

• Study included 61 SCH patients and 69 healthy controls (HC)
• Metagenomic shotgun sequencing (MSS) was used to analyze gut microbiota
• The reduction in α-diversity was specific to archaea among the microbial kingdoms examined
• No equivalent α-diversity reduction was reported for fungi or bacteria in the abstract

Significant β-diversity differences between SCH patients and HC were found at the species level for all three microbial kingdoms: archaea, fungi, and bacteria.

• β-diversity analysis was conducted at the species level for archaea, fungi, and bacteria
• All three microbial groups showed significant compositional differences between SCH and HC
• Analysis was performed using metagenomic shotgun sequencing on stool samples
• Sample sizes were 61 SCH patients and 69 healthy controls

Functional differences between SCH patients and HC were concentrated in glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolic pathways.

• Functional alterations were analyzed using metagenomic shotgun sequencing data
• Three major metabolic pathway categories were implicated: glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism
• Functional differences were observed across the gut microbiome broadly, not limited to one microbial kingdom
• These functional findings were derived from compositional differences in archaea, fungi, and bacteria combined

A panel of 9 archaeal species achieved an AUC of 0.73 for distinguishing SCH patients from healthy controls.

• The diagnostic model was built using 9 archaeal species as potential biomarkers
• AUC = 0.73 for the archaeal diagnostic panel
• The model was developed to differentiate SCH patients (n=61) from HC (n=69)
• This represents a novel contribution as archaeal gut microbiome signatures in SCH had been poorly addressed previously

A panel of 8 fungal species achieved an AUC of 0.69 for distinguishing SCH patients from healthy controls.

• The diagnostic model was built using 8 fungal species as potential biomarkers
• AUC = 0.69 for the fungal diagnostic panel
• The model was developed to differentiate SCH patients (n=61) from HC (n=69)
• Fungal gut microbiome signatures in SCH had been poorly addressed prior to this study

A panel of 22 bacterial species achieved an AUC of 0.74 for distinguishing SCH patients from healthy controls.

• The diagnostic model was built using 22 bacterial species as potential biomarkers
• AUC = 0.74 for the bacterial diagnostic panel, the highest among the three kingdoms tested
• The bacterial panel contained the largest number of species (22) compared to archaeal (9) and fungal (8) panels
• The model was developed to differentiate SCH patients (n=61) from HC (n=69)

Gut microbial dysbiosis in schizophrenia has been demonstrated previously mainly for bacteria, but signatures of minority gut microbiota such as archaea and fungi had been poorly addressed.

• The study was motivated by a gap in knowledge regarding non-bacterial gut microbiota in SCH
• Prior research focused predominantly on bacterial dysbiosis in SCH
• This study used metagenomic shotgun sequencing to comprehensively analyze archaea, fungi, and bacteria simultaneously
• The trial was registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000032118, registration date: 2020/04/20