The Gut Microbiome and Metabolomics Profiles of Restricting and Binge-Purging Type Anorexia Nervosa

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 507
• Main Authors: Monteleone, Alessio Maria, Troisi, Jacopo, Serena, Gloria, Fasano, Alessio, Dalle Grave, Riccardo, Cascino, Giammarco, Marciello, Francesca, Calugi, Simona, Scala, Giovanni, Corrivetti, Giulio, Monteleone, Palmiero
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.02.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Anorexia; Anorexia nervosa; Anorexia Nervosa - microbiology; Anorexia Nervosa - physiopathology; Behavior; Bifidobacterium; Binge eating; Comparative analysis; Diagnosis; Diet; Digestive system; Discriminant analysis; dysbiosis; Feces; Feces - microbiology; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - physiology; Gut microbiota; Haemophilus; Humans; intestinal microorganisms; Laxatives; Lipids; Mental disorders; Metabolism; Metabolites; metabolomics; Metabolomics - methods; microbiome; Microbiota; Microorganisms; occurrence; patients; Physiology; sample size; Software; Womens health; Young Adult; United States > US; Italy; gut microbiome; eating disorders; fecal metabolomics; binge-purging anorexia nervosa; restricting anorexia nervosa
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13020507

Alterations in the gut microbiome and fecal metabolites have been detected in anorexia nervosa (AN), but differences in those profiles between restricting AN (ANR) and binge-purging AN (ANBP) type have not been explored. We made a secondary analysis of our previous data concerning microbiome and metabolomics profiles of 17 ANR women, six ANBP women and 20 healthy controls (HC). Twelve fecal metabolites differentiating ANR patients, ANBP patients and HC were identified. Both patient groups showed decreased intra-individual bacterial richness with respect to healthy controls (HC). Compared to ANR subjects, ANBP patients had a significant increase in relative abundances of Bifidobacterium, Bifidobacteriaceae, Bifidobacteriales, and Eubacteriacae and a significant decrease in relative abundances of Odoribacter, Haemophilus, Pasteurellaceae, and Pasteurellales. The heatmaps of the relationships of selected fecal metabolites with microbial families showed different structures among the three groups, with the heatmap of ANBP patients being drastically different from that of HC, while that of ANR patients resulted more similar to HC. These findings, although preliminary because of the relatively small sample size, confirm the occurrence of different gut dysbiosis in ANR and ANBP and demonstrate different connections between gut microorganisms and fecal metabolites in the two AN types.