Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41395464›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in microbiology2025

Microbiota-sphingolipid pathway in generalized epilepsy: evidence from Mendelian randomization and clinical metabolomics.

Jiayin Gong, Mingxing Lin, Lizhen Chen, Wenting Xiong, Yuying Zhang, Changyun Liu, Shenggen Chen, Wanhui Lin, Chaofeng Zhu, Huapin Huang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Jiayin Gong *Department of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Mingxing Lin *Department of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Lizhen ChenDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Wenting XiongDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Yuying ZhangDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Changyun LiuDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Shenggen ChenDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Wanhui LinDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Chaofeng ZhuDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Huapin HuangDepartment of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Epilepsy is a complex disorder with growing evidence linking gut microbiota and metabolism, though causal relationships unclear. This study investigated causal effects of gut microbiota on three epilepsy types via metabolic pathways, using Mediation Mendelian randomization (MR), evaluated directional consistency metabolomics of refractory epilepsy (RE) patients before and after medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) diet intervention. Methods: Two-step MR was applied to summary statistics for 207 species (Dutch Microbiome Project) and 196 species (MiBioGen consortium), evaluating 871 serum metabolites as mediators of three epilepsy types. For validation, directional consistency in metabolomics was conducted on serum samples from 9 RE patients before and after MCT diet intervention. Results: Only sphingomyelin (SM; d18:0/20:0, d16:0/22:0) and Glycocholate glucuronide (1) were the metabolites significantly associated with three epilepsy types. Mediation MR analysis revealed Mollicutes RF9 had a unidirectional effect via sphingomyelin (d18:1/22:1, d18:2/22:0, d16:1/24:1) modulation ( Conclusion: This study identifies both unidirectional and bidirectional microbiota-metabolite pathways modulating generalized epilepsy risk, with converging evidence pointing to sphingomyelin as a potential lipid biomarker and therapeutic target.

Indexed as

epilepsygut microbiotamediation Mendelian randomizationmedium-chain triglyceride dietmetabolomicssphingomyelin

Identifiers

PMID41395464
PMCPMC12698543

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.