Chronic stress is associated with altered gut microbiota profile and relevant metabolites in adolescents

作者：Ying Li, Wang Yuhao, He Yafang, Lan Jiao, Dang Lina, Song Qinze, Yang Chenghai, Zhao Shaoxiong, Gu Yuexi, Shen Mingwang, Zelin Cai, Wang Chuangchuang, Guo Zihan, Xin Zhe Liu, Ma Lu, Lei Zhang · 发表于：BMC Microbiology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12866-025-04094-1 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Gut microbiota and health、Diet and metabolism studies、Health, psychology, and well-being

BACKGROUND: Gut microbiota and microbiota-derived metabolites have been implicated in the regulation of stress-related diseases, yet their associations with chronic stress in adolescents remain unclear. Multi-omics studies on this topic in adolescents are still limited. This study aimed to characterize gut microbiota and metabolites in adolescents under chronic stress. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed chronic stress in 124 adolescents aged 12–16 years using the Adolescent Life Events Scale and the Study Stress Scale. Participants were stratified by stress level into low (n = 42), medium (n = 41), and high stress (n = 41) groups. Fecal samples were collected from all participants for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Subsequently, a subset of 30 adolescents with high stress and 29 low stress adolescents underwent metagenomic sequencing and untargeted metabolomics. RESULTS: Adolescents experiencing high-chronic stress showed lower alpha diversity, differential beta diversity, and a more complicated microbial network compared to those experiencing lower stress. Spearman’s rank correlation and Kruskal-Wallis test identified five genera with decreased abundances in high stress adolescents, including Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, Akkermansia, Lachnospiraceae unclassified, and Ruminococcus (Pfdr<0.05). Additionally, 12 species showed decreased abundances and 5 increased abundances, and logistic regression analysis further revealed that the relative abundances of Bifidoba...