1. Neonatal immune challenge influences the microbiota and behaviour in a sexually dimorphic manner
- Author
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A. Cuskelly, E.C. Hoedt, L. Harms, N.J. Talley, M.A. Tadros, S. Keely, and D.M. Hodgson
- Subjects
Lipopolysaccharides ,Male ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Behavior, Animal ,Endocrine and Autonomic Systems ,Microbiota ,Immunology ,Animals ,Female ,Anxiety ,Rats, Wistar ,Rats - Abstract
There is comorbidity between anxiety disorders and gastrointestinal disorders, with both linked to adverse early life events. The microbiome gut-brain-axis, a bidirectional communication system, is plastic throughout the neonatal period and is a possible mediator of this relationship. Here, we used a well-established neonatal rodent immune activation model to investigate the long-term effect of neonatal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure on adult behaviour and the relationship to microbiome composition. Wistar rats were injected with LPS (0.05 mg/kg) or saline (equivolume) on postnatal days 3 and 5. In adulthood, behavioural tests were performed to assess anxiety-like behaviour, and microbiota sequencing was performed on stool samples. There were distinctly different behavioural phenotypes for LPS-exposed males and females. LPS-exposed males displayed typical anxiety-like behaviours with significantly decreased social interaction (F
- Published
- 2021