Abstract

Scientific and public interest in the relationship between the gut microbiota and the brain has grown as a result of its potential to explain psychiatric risk. While several mental health issues have been linked to variations in gut microbiome composition, the majority of the evidence for this association has come from small-scale human research and animal models. In this cross-sectional investigation, we examined the relationships between the gut microbiota and 1,784 ten-year-old children from the multi-ethnic, population-based Generation R Study. Stool samples were used to analyse the gut microbiota using 16S rRNA sequencing. The maternally evaluated Child Behavior Checklist was used to measure general mental symptoms as well as particular categories of emotional and behavioural issues. Although there was a correlation between greater overall and particular mental health disorders and reduced gut microbiome diversity, the link was not statistically significant. After multiple testing corrections, we also failed to detect any taxonomic characteristic linked to mental health issues, despite intriguing results showing the disappearance of taxa like Hungatella anaerotruncus, and Oscillospiraceae that have previously been linked to psychiatric diseases. All mental health issues had the same compositional abundance differences that had been established. Last but not least, we did not discover any appreciable enrichment for certain microbial activities in connection to mental health issues. Based on the biggest sample analysed to date, we draw the conclusion that there is no conclusive evidence between the diversity, taxonomy, or functions of the gut microbiome with mental health issues in the general pediatric population. To determine whether and when relationships between the gut microbiota and mental health arise throughout development and into adulthood, longitudinal designs with repeated assessments of microbiome and psychiatric outcomes will be essential in the future.