Microbiota and host determinants of behavioural phenotype in maternally separated mice

Early-life stress is a determinant of vulnerability to a variety of disorders that include dysfunction of the brain and gut. Here we exploit a model of early-life stress, maternal separation (MS) in mice, to investigate the role of the intestinal microbiota in the development of impaired gut function and altered behaviour later in life. Using germ-free and specific pathogen-free mice, we demonstrate that MS alters the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and colonic cholinergic neural regulation in a microbiota-independent fashion. However, microbiota is required for the induction of anxiety-like behaviour and behavioural despair. Colonization of adult germ-free MS and control mice with the same microbiota…

• CA
  Crohn's and Colitis Foundation
• CA
  Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada
• MD
  Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

  Award: CSD2007-00063
• CI
  Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• OM
  Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation