Alterations in Vagal Tone Are Associated with Changes in the Gut Microbiota of Adults with Anxiety and Depression Symptoms: Analysis of Fecal Metabolite Profiles

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that interactions between the brain and gut microbiota significantly impact brain function and mental health. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether young, healthy adults without psychiatric diagnoses exhibit differences in metabolic stool and microbiota profiles based on depression/anxiety scores and heart rate variability (HRV) parameters. Untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomics was used to identify fecal metabolic profiles. Results were subjected to multivariate analysis through principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and the metabolites were identified through VIP score. Metabolites separating asymptomatic and symptomatic groups were acetate, valine, and glutamate, followed by sugar regions, glutamine, acetone, valerate, and acetoacetate. The main metabolites identified in high vagal tone (HVT) and low vagal tone (LVT) groups were acetate, valerate, and glutamate, followed by propionate and butyrate. In addition to the metabolites identified by the PLS-DA test, significant differences in aspartate, sarcosine, malate, and methionine were observed between the groups. Levels of acetoacetate were higher in both symptomatic and LVT groups. Valerate levels were significantly increased in the symptomatic group, while isovalerate, propionate, glutamate, and acetone levels were significantly increased in the LVT group. Furthermore, distinct abundance between groups was only confirmed for the Firmicutes phylum. Differences between participants with high and low vagal tone suggest that certain metabolites are involved in communication between the vagus nerve and the brain.

Keywords

• metabolomics
• gut–brain axis
• depression
• anxiety
• vagal tone
• gut microbiota