Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain JB-1 reverses restraint stress-induced gut dysmotility.

BACKGROUND: Environmental stress affects the gut with dysmotility being a common consequence. Although a variety of microbes or molecules may prevent the dysmotility, none reverse the dysmotility. METHODS: We have used a 1 hour restraint stress mouse model to test for treatment effects of the neuroactive microbe, L. rhamnosus JB-1™ . Motility of fluid-filled ex vivo gut segments in a perfusion organ bath was recorded by video and migrating motor complexes measured using spatiotemporal maps of diameter changes. KEY RESULTS: Stress reduced jejunal and increased colonic propagating contractile cluster velocities and frequencies, while increasing contraction amplitudes for both. Luminal application of 10E8 cfu/mL JB-1 restored motor complex variables to unstressed levels within minutes of application. L. salivarius or Na.acetate had no treatment effects, while Na.butyrate partially reversed stress effects on colonic frequency and amplitude. Na.propionate reversed the stress effects for jejunum and colon except on jejunal amplitude. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Our findings demonstrate, for the first time, a potential for certain beneficial microbes as treatment of stress-induced intestinal dysmotility and that the mechanism for restoration of function occurs within the intestine via a rapid drug-like action on the enteric nervous system.

Behavioural and neurochemical consequences of chronic gut microbiota depletion during adulthood in the rat.

Gut microbiota colonization is a key event for host physiology that occurs early in life. Disruption of this process leads to altered brain development which ultimately manifests as changes in brain function and behaviour in adulthood. Studies using germ-free (GF) mice highlight the extreme impact on brain health that results from life without commensal microbes. However, the impact of microbiota disturbances occurring in adulthood is less studied. To this end, we depleted the gut microbiota of 10-week-old male SpragueDawley rats via chronic antibiotic treatment. Following this marked, sustained depletion of the gut bacteria, we investigated behavioural and molecular hallmarks of gut-brain communication. Our results reveal that depletion of the gut microbiota during adulthood results in deficits in spatial memory as tested by Morris water maze, decreased visceral sensitivity and a greater display of depressive-like behaviours in the forced swim test. In tandem with these clear behavioural alterations we found changes in altered CNS serotonin concentration along with changes in the mRNA levels of corticotrophin releasing hormone receptor 1 and glucocorticoid receptor. Additionally, we found changes in the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a hallmark of altered microbiota-gut-brain axis signalling. In summary, this model of antibiotic-induced depletion of the gut microbiota can be used for future studies interested in the impact of the gut microbiota on host health without the confounding developmental influence of early-life microbial alterations.

The gut microbiome restores intrinsic and extrinsic nerve function in germ-free mice accompanied by changes in calbindin.

BACKGROUND: The microbiome is essential for normal myenteric intrinsic primary afferent neuron (IPAN) excitability. These neurons control gut motility and modulate gut-brain signaling by exciting extrinsic afferent fibers innervating the enteric nervous system via an IPAN to extrinsic fiber sensory synapse. We investigated effects of germ-free (GF) status and conventionalization on extrinsic sensory fiber discharge in the mesenteric nerve bundle and IPAN electrophysiology, and compared these findings with those from specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice. As we have previously shown that the IPAN calcium-dependent slow afterhyperpolarization (sAHP) is enhanced in GF mice, we also examined the expression of the calcium-binding protein calbindin in these neurons in these different animal groups. METHODS: IPAN sAHP and mesenteric nerve multiunit discharge were recorded using ex vivo jejunal gut segments from SPF, GF, or conventionalized (CONV) mice. IPANs were excited by adding 5 µM TRAM-34 to the serosal superfusate. We probed for calbindin expression using immunohistochemical techniques. KEY RESULTS: SPF mice had a 21% increase in mesenteric nerve multiunit firing rate and CONV mice a 41% increase when IPANs were excited by TRAM-34. For GF mice, this increase was barely detectable (2%). TRAM-34 changed sAHP area under the curve by -77 for SPF, +3 for GF, or -54% for CONV animals. Calbindin-immunopositive neurons per myenteric ganglion were 36% in SPF, 24% in GF, and 52% in CONV animals. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: The intact microbiome is essential for normal intrinsic and extrinsic nerve function and gut-brain signaling.

The microbiome is essential for normal gut intrinsic primary afferent neuron excitability in the mouse.

BACKGROUND: The role of intestinal microbiota in the development and function of host physiology is of high interest, especially with respect to the nervous system. While strong evidence has accrued that intestinal bacteria alter host nervous system function, mechanisms by which this occurs have remained elusive. For this reason, we have carried out experiments examining the electrophysiological properties of neurons in the myenteric plexus of the enteric nervous system (ENS) in germ-free (GF) mice compared with specific pathogen-free (SPF) control mice and adult germ-free mice that have been conventionalized (CONV-GF) with intestinal bacteria. METHODS: Segments of jejunum from 8 to 12 week old GF, SPF, and CONV-GF mice were dissected to expose the myenteric plexus. Intracellular recordings in current-clamp mode were made by impaling cells with sharp microelectrodes. Action potential (AP) shapes, firing thresholds, the number of APs fired at 2× threshold, and passive membrane characteristics were measured. KEY RESULTS: In GF mice, excitability was decreased in myenteric afterhyperpolarization (AH) neurons as measured by a lower resting membrane potential and by the number of APs generated at 2× threshold. The post AP slow afterhyperpolarization (sAHP) was prolonged for GF compared with SPF and CONV-GF animals. Passive membrane characteristics were also altered in GF mice by a decrease in input resistance. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: Here, we report the novel finding that commensal intestinal microbiota are necessary for normal excitability of gut sensory neurons and thus provide a potential mechanism for the transfer of information between the microbiota and nervous system.