Characterization Of Clinical Features And Intestinal Microbiome In Patients With Hypochondriasis

Objective:Based on this research, we collect clinical datas and analyse7predominant intestinal microbiome to describe the clinical features of patients with hypochondriasis and the characterizations of intestinal microbiome.Methods:We recruited40patients with hypochondriasis, who were diagnosed at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University between August2014and December2014. They suspected themselves infected HIV or some mutation spieces. All patients voluntarily joined this stuty and gave their informed consent. Informations like their history, blood and fecal samples, eating and living habits were collected. After that, psychiatric specialists assessed the HAMA and HAMD scale of these patients. Owing to the usage of antibiotics、probiotics or immunosuppressive agents, and having a history of other diseases like diabetes、obesity、athma、autoimmune diseases,20patients were excluded. Only20patients were included to the second part study:Real time quantitative PCR of the predominant intestinal microbiome comparing with20healthy controls.Results:In these40patients of hypochondriasis, white blood cell count were all above4000 /μL. Most patients’lymphocyte count were in normal range, but in11patients, their CD4+T lymphocyte were less than500/μL. CD4+/CD8+T lymphocyte ratio reversed in21patients. All the HAMA and HAMD scales shows that32.5%of patients were anxious,5%of which were dramatically anxious.70%of patients were depressed,5%of which were severely depressed. Compared with healthy controls in real-time quantification of predominant intestinal microbiome, there were dramatically decline in butyrate producing bacteria, Bifidobacteria and Lactic acid bacteria in patients with hypochondriasis. While Bifidobacteria/Enterobacteriaceae(B/E) ratios in most healthy controls were above1, ratios in all patients were below1, even smaller than0.1.Conclusion:Lymphocyte and CD4+T lymphocyte count could decline in patients with hypochondriasis, some could reverse the CD4+/CD8+T lymphocyte ratio. It is possibly relevant to immunological disorders. The analysis of predominant intestinal microbiome and B/E ratio show differences between patients and healthy controls. It is just a primary discovery in the relationship between hypochondriasis and intestinal microbiome, and further study are needed to illustrate the mechanism. It is possible to use probiotics and prebiotics for intervention.