Chronic Early-life Stress in Rat Pups Alters Basal Corticosterone, Intestinal Permeability, and Fecal Microbiota at Weaning: Influence of Sex

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Claregrieve1 on 2022/09/29

study design

laboratory experiment

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

27829577

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.5056/jnm16105

URI

Authors

Moussaoui N, Jacobs JP, Larauche M, Biraud M, Million M, Mayer E, Taché Y

Journal

Journal of neurogastroenterology and motility

Year

2017

Keywords:

Corticosterone, Microbiota, Permeability, Stress, psychological, Weaning

Background/Aims: Wistar rat dams exposed to limited nesting stress (LNS) from post-natal days (PND) 2 to 10 display erratic maternal behavior, and their pups show delayed maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and impaired epithelial barrier at PND10 and a visceral hypersensitivity at adulthood. Little is known about the impact of early life stress on the offspring before adulthood and the influence of sex. We investigated whether male and female rats previously exposed to LNS displays at weaning altered corticosterone, intestinal permeability, and microbiota. Methods: Wistar rat dams and litters were maintained from PND2 to 10 with limited nesting/bedding materials and thereafter reverted to normal housing up to weaning (PND21). Control litters had normal housing. At weaning, we monitored body weight, corticosterone plasma levels (enzyme immunoassay), in vivo intestinal to colon permeability (fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran 4 kDa) and fecal microbiota (DNA extraction and amplification of the V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene). Results: At weaning, LNS pups had hypercorticosteronemia and enhanced intestinal permeability with females > males while body weights were similar. LNS decreased fecal microbial diversity and induced a distinct composition characterized by increased abundance of Gram positive cocci and reduction of fiber-degrading, butyrate-producing, and mucus-resident microbes. Conclusions: These data indicate that chronic exposure to LNS during the first week post-natally has sustained effects monitored at weaning including hypercorticosteronemia, a leaky gut, and dysbiosis. These alterations may impact on the susceptibility to develop visceral hypersensitivity in adult rats and have relevance to the development of irritable bowel syndrome in childhood.

Experiment 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Claregrieve1 on 2022/09/29

Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: WikiWorks

Revision editor(s): Claregrieve1, WikiWorks

Subjects

Location of subjects: United States of America

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled (if applicable): Rattus norvegicus

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: stimulus or stress design stimulus_or_stress_design,stimulus or stress design

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: controls
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: limited nesting stress
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: pups exposed to limited nesting stress
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 23
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 23

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V4

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Statistical test: DESeq2

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05
MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: Yes
Confounders controlled for Confounding factors that have been accounted for by stratification or model adjustment: sex

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: decreased
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness: decreased

Signature 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Claregrieve1 on 2022/09/29

Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: Fatima Zohra

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks

Source: Fig3C + text

Description: Genera with differentially abundance in the LNS ( limited nesting stress) group compared to control

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in limited nesting stress

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Enterococcus
Streptococcus
Peptococcus
Aerococcus
Jeotgalicoccus
Facklamia
Clostridium
Corynebacterium
Desulfovibrio
Granulicatella
Rothia
Proteus
Clostridiaceae
Coprobacillus
Lactococcus
Streptococcaceae
Enterococcaceae
Turicibacter
Methanosphaera

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks

Signature 2

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Claregrieve1 on 2022/09/29

Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: Fatima Zohra

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks

Source: Fig3C + text

Description: Genera with differentially abundance in the LNS ( limited nesting stress) group compared to control

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in limited nesting stress

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Ruminococcus
Roseburia
Coprococcus
Amedibacillus dolichus CAG:375
Akkermansia muciniphila
Mucispirillum schaedleri
Holdemanella
Oscillospiraceae
Barnesiellaceae
Staphylococcus
Parabacteroides
Peptococcaceae
Erysipelotrichaceae
Eubacteriales
Lachnospira
Anaerotruncus
Haemophilus
Odoribacter

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks