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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Microbial Immunology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1414653
This article is part of the Research Topic Gut Beyond Gut: The Gut-Brain Axis View all articles

Gut Microbiota and Functional Outcome After Ischemic Stroke: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Provisionally accepted
Dian Qu Dian Qu 1*Deming Jiang Deming Jiang 2Yan Xin Yan Xin 1Guichun Yang Guichun Yang 1Huan Liang Huan Liang 3Linlin Wang Linlin Wang 1
  • 1 Harbin 242 hospital, Harbin, China
  • 2 Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 3 Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Previous studies have shown that gut microbiota dysbiosis may affect the clinical prognosis through unknown mechanism. However, the causal relationship between gut microbiota and functional outcome after ischemic stroke remains unclear. We aim to investigate causal association between gut microbiota and functional outcome after ischemic stroke using Mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: Genetic instrumental variables associated with 211 bacterial traits were obtained from MiBioGen consortium (N = 18,340). GWAS data for functional outcome after ischemic stroke was obtained from two phenotypes (overall stroke outcome and motor recovery). The inverse variance weighted method was used to estimate the causal association. Enrichment analysis was conducted base on the results of MR analyses. Results: Genetically predicted family Peptostreptococcaceae (OR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.41–0.98; P = 0.038), genus LachnospiraceaeNK4A136 group (OR = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.43–1.00; P = 0.048), genus LachnospiraceaeUCG004 (OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.33–0.90; P = 0.017), and genus Odoribacter (OR = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.21–0.77; P = 0.006) presented a suggestive association with favorable functional outcome, while genus Eubacterium oxidoreducens group (OR = 1.77; 95% CI = 1.11–2.84; P = 0.018) and genus RuminococcaceaeUCG005 (OR = 1.85; 95% CI = 1.15–2.96; P = 0.010) were associated with unfavorable functional outcome. Genetically predicted family Oxalobacteraceae (OR = 2.12; 95% CI = 1.10–4.11; P = 0.025) and genus RuminococcaceaeUCG014 (OR = 4.17; 95% CI = 1.29–13.52; P = 0.017) showed a suggestive association with motor recovery, while order Enterobacteriales (OR = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.02–0.87; P = 0.035) and family Enterobacteriaceae (OR = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.02–0.87; P = 0.035) were associated with motor weakness. Enrichment analysis revealed that regulation of synapse structure or activity may be involved in the effect of gut microbiota on functional outcome after ischemic stroke. Conclusions: This study provides genetic support that gut microbiota, especially those associated with short-chain fatty acids, may affect stroke prognosis by mediating synapse function. Our findings suggest that modifying the composition of gut microbiota may improve the prognosis of ischemic stroke.

    Keywords: Gut Microbiota, ischemic stroke, functional outcome, synapse function, Mendelian Randomization Functional Outcome, Mendelian randomization

    Received: 09 Apr 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Qu, Jiang, Xin, Yang, Liang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Dian Qu, Harbin 242 hospital, Harbin, China

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