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The composition and metabolites of the gut microbiota can be altered by environmental pollutants. However, the effect of co-exposure to multiple pollutants on the human gut microbiota has not been sufficiently studied. In this study, gut microorganisms and their metabolites were compared between 33 children from Guiyu, an e-waste dismantling and recycling area, and 34 children from Haojiang, a healthy environment. The exposure level was assessed by estimating the daily intake (EDI) of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 6PPD-quinone (6PPDQ), and metal(loid)s in kindergarten dust. Significant correlations were found between the EDIs of 6PPDQ, BDE28, PCB52, Ni, Cu, and the composition of gut microbiota and specific metabolites. The Bayesian kernel machine regression model showed negative correlations between the EDIs of five pollutants (6PPDQ, BDE28, PCB52, Ni, and Cu) and the composition of gut microbiota. The EDIs of these five pollutants were positively correlated with the levels of the metabolite 2,4-diaminobutyric acid, while negatively correlated with the levels of d-erythro-sphingosine and d-threitol. Our study suggests that exposure to 6PPDQ, BDE28, PCB52, Ni, and Cu in kindergarten dust is associated with alterations in the composition and metabolites of the gut microbiota. These alterations may be associated with children's health., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Abstract: The identification of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes putatively related to pathophysiological processes in major depressive disorder (MDD) might improve both diagnosis and personalized treatment strategies eventually leading to more effective interventions. Considering the important role of the glucocorticoid receptor and the related FK506 binding protein 51 (FKBP51) in the pathophysiology of MDD, we aimed to investigate putative associations between variants of FKBP5, the coding gene of FKBP51, with antidepressant treatment resistance and MDD susceptibility.Nine common SNPs of the FKBP5 gene prioritized based on location and, putative or known functions were genotyped in Han Chinese population, including MDD patients with or without antidepressant-treatment resistance and healthy controls. Associations of FKBP5 SNPs with MDD susceptibility and treatment response were examined in the whole group of MDD patients, as well as in subgroups stratified by antidepressant treatment resistance, compared with healthy controls.In total, 181 Han Chinese patients with MDD and 80 healthy controls were recruited. No significant SNP or haplotype associations were observed in the whole patient group. There were nominal significant differences both for the haplotype block with SNPs in strong LD (r2 > 0.8, P = .040) and haplotype block with SNPs in moderate LD (r2 > 0.1, P = .017) between the haplotype distributions of patients with antidepressant treatment resistance (n = 81) and healthy controls, but both significances did not survive multiple testing correction. Furthermore, no specific haplotype could be observed causing a significant difference in any combination between all comparisons.No associations were observed of FKBP5 variants with MDD or antidepressant treatment response. The lack of associations might be due to the relatively small sample size of this study (power ranged from 0.100 to 0.752). A follow-up study will need larger, better phenotyped, and more homogeneous samples to draw a definitive conclusion regarding the involvement of this gene in MDD., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)