A Pilot Study of the Gut Microbiota Associated With Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Disturbance Among Chinese and Korean Immigrants in the United States

Context Depression is prevalent among Asian Americans (AsA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and depression often leads to sleep disturbance in this population. The gut microbiota (GM) plays a critical role in mental health and sleep quality, and the composition of the GM is largely unknown among AsA. Objectives Examine associations of the GM with depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance among Chinese and Korean American immigrants. Methods Depressive symptoms (PROMIS Short Form-Depression) and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) were collected via surveys. PROMIS measure T-score > 55 indicates positive depressive symptoms, and a total PSQI score > 5 indicates sleep disturbance. 16S rRNA V3-V4 gene regions were sequenced from fecal specimens to measure GM. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance and linear discriminant analysis effect size were applied to examine associations of the GM with symptoms. Results Among 20 participants, 55% ( n = 11) reported depressive symptoms and 35% ( n = 7) reported sleep disturbance. A higher α-diversity was marginally associated with lower depressive symptoms: Chao1 (r = −0.39, p = 0.09) and Shannon index (r = −0.41, p = 0.08); β-diversity distinguished participants between categories of depressive symptoms (weighted UniFrac, p=0.04) or sleep disturbance (Jaccard, p=0.05). Those with depressive symptoms showed a higher abundance of Actinobacteria, while those without depressive symptoms had a higher abundance of Bacteroidetes. No significant taxa were identified for sleep disturbance. Conclusions Gut microbial diversity showed promising associations with depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance among Chinese and Korean immigrants. Specific taxa were identified as associated with depressive symptoms. Future studies with a larger sample size are warranted to confirm our findings.