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Zhao F, Wang K, Wen Y, Chen X, Liu H, Qi F, Fu Y, Zhu J, Guan S, Liu Z. Contribution of hippocampal BDNF/CREB signaling pathway and gut microbiota to emotional behavior impairment induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress during pregnancy in rats offspring. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13605. [PMID: 35769142 PMCID: PMC9235812 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Numerous studies have shown that exposure to prenatal maternal stress (PMS) is associated with various psychopathological outcomes of offspring. The accumulating evidence linking bacteria in the gut and neurons in the brain (the microbiota-gut-brain axis) has been aconsensus; however, there is a lack of research on the involvement mechanism of gut microbiota in the regulation of the BDNF/CREB signaling pathway in the hippocampus of prenatally stressed offspring. Methods Pregnant rats were subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) to establish the prenatal maternal stress model. The body weight was measured and the behavioral changes were recorded. Offspring were tested to determine emotional state using sucrose preference test (SPT), open-field test (OFT) and suspended tail test (STT). Gut microbiota was evaluated by sequencing the microbial 16S rRNA V3-V4 region, and the interactive analysis of bacterial community structure and diversity was carried out. The expression of hippocampal BDNF, TrkB and CREB mRNA and proteins were respectively measured using RT-PCR and Western blotting. Results Prenatal maternal stress increased maternal plasma corticosterone levels, slowed maternal weight gain and caused depression-like behaviors (all P < 0.05). In offspring, prenatal maternal stress increased plasma corticosterone levels (P < 0.05) and emotional behavior changes (depression-like state) were observed (P < 0.05). The species abundance, diversity and composition of the offspring's gut microbiota changed after the maternal stress during pregnancy (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group's offspring, the species abundance of Lactobacillaceae was dropped, while the abundance of the Muribaculaceae species abundance was risen. Concurrent, changes in the hippocampal structure of the offspring and decreases in expression of BDNF/CREB signaling were noted (P < 0.05). Conclusions Prenatal maternal stress leads to high corticosterone status and abnormal emotion behavior of offspring, which may be associated with the abnormal BDNF/CREB signaling in hippocampus of offspring caused by the change of gut microbiota composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Zhao
- Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Kai Wang
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Yujun Wen
- Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Xiaohui Chen
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Hongya Liu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Faqiu Qi
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Youjuan Fu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Jiashu Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Suzhen Guan
- Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Zhihong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Factors and Chronic Disease Control, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
- School of Public Health and Management, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
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Cusick JA, Wellman CL, Demas GE. Maternal stress and the maternal microbiome have sex-specific effects on offspring development and aggressive behavior in Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus). Horm Behav 2022; 141:105146. [PMID: 35276524 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The gut microbiome, a community of commensal, symbiotic and pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and viruses, interacts with many physiological systems to affect behavior. Prenatal experiences, including exposure to maternal stress and different maternal microbiomes, are important sources of organismal variation that can affect offspring development. These physiological systems do not act in isolation and can have long-term effects on offspring development and behavior. Here we investigated the interactive effects of maternal stress and manipulations of the maternal microbiome on offspring development and social behavior using Siberian hamsters, Phodopus sungorus. We exposed pregnant females to either a social stressor, antibiotics, both the social stressor and antibiotics, or no treatment (i.e., control) over the duration of their pregnancy and quantified male and female offspring growth, gut microbiome composition and diversity, stress-induced cortisol concentrations, and social behavior. Maternal antibiotic exposure altered the gut microbial communities of male and female offspring. Maternal treatment also had sex-specific effects on aspects of offspring development and aggressive behavior. Female offspring produced by stressed mothers were more aggressive than other female offspring. Female, but not male, offspring produced by mothers exposed to the combined treatment displayed low levels of aggression, suggesting that alteration of the maternal microbiome attenuated the effects of prenatal stress in a sex-specific manner. Maternal treatment did not affect non-aggressive behavior in offspring. Collectively, our study offers insight into how maternal systems can interact to affect offspring in sex-specific ways and highlights the important role of the maternal microbiome in mediating offspring development and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Cusick
- Department of Biology, Utah Valley University, United States of America; Department of Biology, Indiana University, United States of America; Animal Behavior Program, Indiana University, United States of America.
| | - Cara L Wellman
- Animal Behavior Program, Indiana University, United States of America; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, United States of America; Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, United States of America
| | - Gregory E Demas
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, United States of America; Animal Behavior Program, Indiana University, United States of America; Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, United States of America
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Cusick JA, Wellman CL, Demas GE. The call of the wild: using non-model systems to investigate microbiome-behaviour relationships. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb224485. [PMID: 33988717 PMCID: PMC8180253 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.224485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
On and within most sites across an animal's body live complex communities of microorganisms. These microorganisms perform a variety of important functions for their hosts, including communicating with the brain, immune system and endocrine axes to mediate physiological processes and affect individual behaviour. Microbiome research has primarily focused on the functions of the microbiome within the gastrointestinal tract (gut microbiome) using biomedically relevant laboratory species (i.e. model organisms). These studies have identified important connections between the gut microbiome and host immune, neuroendocrine and nervous systems, as well as how these connections, in turn, influence host behaviour and health. Recently, the field has expanded beyond traditional model systems as it has become apparent that the microbiome can drive differences in behaviour and diet, play a fundamental role in host fitness and influence community-scale dynamics in wild populations. In this Review, we highlight the value of conducting hypothesis-driven research in non-model organisms and the benefits of a comparative approach that assesses patterns across different species or taxa. Using social behaviour as an intellectual framework, we review the bidirectional relationship between the gut microbiome and host behaviour, and identify understudied mechanisms by which these effects may be mediated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A. Cusick
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Biology Building 142, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
- Animal Behavior Program, Indiana University, 409 N. Park Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Cara L. Wellman
- Animal Behavior Program, Indiana University, 409 N. Park Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Psychology Building, 1101 E 10th Street Bloomington, IN 47405-2204, USA
| | - Gregory E. Demas
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Biology Building 142, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
- Animal Behavior Program, Indiana University, 409 N. Park Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Psychology Building, 1101 E 10th Street Bloomington, IN 47405-2204, USA
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