Core antibiotic resistance genes mediate gut microbiota to intervene in the treatment of major depressive disorder.

Introduction: The relationship between depression and gut microbiota remains unclear, but an important role of gut microbiota has been verified. The relationship between gut microbiota and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) may be a potential new explanatory pathway.
Methods: We collected samples from 63 depressed patients and 30 healthy controls for metagenomic sequencing. The two groups' microbiota characteristics, functional characteristics, and ARG differences were analyzed.
Results: We obtained 30 differential KEGG orthologs (KOs) and their producers in 5 genera and 7 species by HUMAnN3. We found 6 KOs from Weissella_cibaria and Lactobacillus_plantaru are potentially coring functional mechanism of gut microbiota. Different metabolites including sphingolipids, pyrans, prenol lipids, and isoflavonoids also showed significance between MDD and HC. We detected 48 significantly different ARGs: 5 ARGs up-regulated and 43 ARGs down-regulated in MDD compared to HC. Based on Cox model results, Three ARGs significantly affected drug efficacy (ARG29, ARG105, and ARG111). Eggerthella, Weissella, and Lactobacillus were correlated with different core ARGs, which indicated different mechanisms in affecting MDD.
Limitations: The present study needs to be replicated in different ethnic groups. At the same time, a larger Chinese cohort study and detailed experimental verification are also the key to further discussion.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that ARGs play a role in the interplay between major depressive disorder and gut microbiota. The role of ARGs should be taken into account when understanding the relationship between depression and gut microbiota.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors state that they have no conflicts of interest.
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