Transplantation of fecal microbiota from patients with alcoholism induces anxiety/depression behaviors and decreases brain mGluR1/PKC ε levels in mouse

AbstractRecent studies have revealed that the gut microbiota participates in the psychiatric behavior changes in disorders associated with alcohol. But it still remains unknown whether alcoholism is involved in changes in gut microbiota and its underlying mechanism is also not clear. Here, we tested the gut microbiota of patients with alcoholism and conducted fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from patients with alcoholism to C57BL/6J mice whose gut microbiota had been sharply suppressed with antibiotics (ABX). Then we evaluated their alcohol preference degree, anxiety, and depression ‐like behaviors and social interaction behaviors, together with molecular changes in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc). Our data indicated that the gut microbiota of patients with alcoholism was drastically different from those of the healthy adults. The abundance ofp_Firmicutes was significantly increased whereasp_Bacteroidetes was decreased. Compared to mice transplanted with fecal microbiota from healthy male adults, the mice accepting fecal microbiota from patients with alcoholism showed (a) anxiety ‐like and depression‐like behaviors, (b) decreased social interaction behaviors, (c) spontaneous alcohol preference, and (d) decreased brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), alpha 1 subunit of GABA type A receptor (α1GABAAR) in mPFC and decreased metabotropic glutamate receptors 1 (mGluR1), protein kinase C (PKC) ε in NAc. Overall, our results sugges...
Source: BioFactors - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: RESEARCH COMMUNICATION Source Type: research