Chinese female patients with anorexia nervosa showed no significant gut microbiota differences versus healthy controls.

This cohort study evaluated gut microbiota profiles in 30 female patients with anorexia nervosa and 30 healthy controls. The population consisted of Chinese female patients with AN and sex- and age-matched healthy controls. No specific medications were administered as the intervention was the assessment of the gut microbiota profile itself, with healthy controls serving as the comparator. The study setting was not reported, and the follow-up duration was not reported.

Regarding primary outcomes, no significant differences were observed in alpha diversity between the two groups. Similarly, beta diversity analysis revealed differences between AN patients and healthy controls, though specific effect sizes, absolute numbers, p-values, or confidence intervals were not reported. The direction of these beta diversity differences was not reported. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed regarding associations between gut microbiota and body mass index (BMI), disease severity, or childhood trauma scores.

Secondary outcomes included Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) scores, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) scores, and body mass index (BMI). Nominal (uncorrected) correlations were observed between specific microbiota and psychological traits, but no significant differences were found after rigorous multiple comparison correction. Safety data, including adverse events, serious adverse events, discontinuations, and tolerability, were not reported.

Key limitations include the exploratory nature of the results, which should be considered hypothesis-generating. The findings require validation in larger, longitudinal cohorts to determine reproducibility and biological significance. No robust associations were found after rigorous multiple comparison correction. Consequently, nominal correlations should not be overinterpreted without correction, and findings require validation in larger, longitudinal cohorts.