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Altered microbiomes distinguish Alzheimer's disease from amnestic mild cognitive impairment and health in a Chinese cohort
Liu P, Wu L, Peng G, Han Y, Tang R, Ge J, Zhang L, Jia L et al.. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2019-05-04
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Recently, several animal studies indicated that the 'gut-brain' axis might contribute to the amyloid deposition of AD. Results The fecal microbial diversity was decreased in AD patients compared with aMCI patients and HC. Among bacterial taxa, the proportion of phylum Firmicutes was significantly reduced (P = 0.008), whereas Proteobacteria (P = 0.024) was highly enriched in the AD compared with HC. Further, a significant correlation was observed between the clinical severity scores of AD patients and the abundance of altered microbiomes. Moreover, the KEGG results showed the increased modules related to glycan biosynthesis and metabolism in AD and aMCI patients and decreased pathways related to immune system in AD patients. Conclusions Distinct microbial communities, especially enriched Enterobacteriaceae, were associated with patients with AD when compared with predementia stage aMCI and healthy subjects.
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APA 7th
Liu, P., Wu, L., Peng, G., Han, Y., Tang, R., Ge, J., et al. (2019). Altered microbiomes distinguish Alzheimer's disease from amnestic mild cognitive impairment and health in a Chinese cohort. Brain, behavior, and immunity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2019.05.008
Vancouver
Liu P, Wu L, Peng G, Han Y, Tang R, Ge J, et al. Altered microbiomes distinguish Alzheimer's disease from amnestic mild cognitive impairment and health in a Chinese cohort. Brain, behavior, and immunity. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2019.05.008. PMID: 31063846.
BibTeX
@article{liu2019-31063846,
author = {Liu, P. and Wu, L. and Peng, G. and Han, Y. and Tang, R. and Ge, J. and Zhang, L. and Jia, L. and others},
title = {{Altered microbiomes distinguish Alzheimer's disease from amnestic mild cognitive impairment and health in a Chinese cohort}},
journal = {Brain, behavior, and immunity},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbi.2019.05.008},
pmid = {31063846},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2019.05.008}
}
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Key findings
- Recently, several animal studies indicated that the 'gut-brain' axis might contribute to the amyloid deposition of AD.
- Results The fecal microbial diversity was decreased in AD patients compared with aMCI patients and HC.
- Among bacterial taxa, the proportion of phylum Firmicutes was significantly reduced (P = 0.008), whereas Proteobacteria (P = 0.024) was highly enriched in the AD compared with HC.
- Further, a significant correlation was observed between the clinical severity scores of AD patients and the abundance of altered microbiomes.
- Moreover, the KEGG results showed the increased modules related to glycan biosynthesis and metabolism in AD and aMCI patients and decreased pathways related to immune system in AD patients.
Why it matters
In a Chinese cohort, people with Alzheimer's had less diverse gut bacteria than people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment or healthy controls, with less Firmicutes (P = 0.008) and more Proteobacteria (P = 0.024) than healthy controls, and the size of these shifts tracked with how severe their dementia was. The authors describe this as an association ("especially enriched Enterobacteriaceae"), not proof that gut bacteria cause Alzheimer's, and the study tested no stool-based diagnostic accuracy and no treatment.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants97
- Effect sizeAUC = 0.890; AUC = 0.925; AUC = 0.688
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 62/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Brain, behavior, and immunity) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Brain Behavior and Immunity: journal h-index 249 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2019 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 97 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 663 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 73.7 citations a year over 9 year(s) since 2019 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 17.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 16 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 316 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Baohong Wang: h-index 28 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Zhejiang University: institution h-index 1,040 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 31063846) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 62 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2019.05.008
- PubMed: 31063846
- Original source →
- Free full text: Brain Behavior and Immunity →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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