Social isolation induces intestinal barrier disorder and imbalances gut microbiota in mice

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Peace Sandy on 2024-5-23

study design

laboratory experiment

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

38479554

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2024.137714

URI

Authors

Wang Y, Ullah H, Deng T, Ren X, Zhao Z, Xin Y, Qiu J

Journal

Neuroscience letters

Year

2024

Keywords:

Gut microbiota, Intestinal barrier, Social isolation

Social isolation, a known stressor, can have detrimental effects on both physical and mental health. Recent scientific attention has been drawn to the gut-brain axis, a bidirectional communication system between the central nervous system and gut microbiota, suggesting that gut microbes may influence brain function. This study aimed to explore the impact of social isolation on the intestinal barrier and gut microbiota. 40 male BALB/c mice were either individually housed or kept in groups for 8 and 15 weeks. Socially isolated mice exhibited increased anxiety-like behavior, with significant differences between the 8-week and 15-week isolation groups (P < 0.05). After 8 weeks of isolation, there was a reduction in tight junction protein expression in the intestinal mechanical barrier. Furthermore, after 15 weeks of isolation, both tight junction protein and mucin expression, key components of the intestinal chemical barrier, decreased. This was accompanied by a substantial increase in inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 mRNA, IL-10, and TNF-α) in colon tissue in the 15-week isolated group (P < 0.05). Additionally, Illumina MiSequencing revealed significant alterations in the gut microbiota of socially isolated mice, including reduced Firmicutes and Bacteroides compared to the control group. Lactobacillus levels also decreased in the socially isolated mice.

Experiment 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Peace Sandy on 2024-5-23

Curated date: 2024/04/18

Curator: Barrakat

Revision editor(s): Barrakat, Joiejoie, WikiWorks

Subjects

Location of subjects: China

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Mus musculus

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,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Social deprivation Social deprivation,social deprivation

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Normal Control NCd (8-week normal control group)

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Socially Isolated SId (8-week socially isolated group)

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Individually housed mice without any sensory communication with other mice for 8 weeks

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 10

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 10

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

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: relative abundances

Statistical test: LEfSe

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: unchanged

Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness: unchanged

Experiment 2

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Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Normal Control NCc (15-week normal control group)

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Socially Isolated SIc (15-week socially isolated group)

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Individually housed mice without any sensory communication with other mice for 15 weeks

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: increased

Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness: increased

Signature 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Peace Sandy on 2024-5-23

Curated date: 2024/04/18

Curator: Barrakat

Revision editor(s): Barrakat, Peace Sandy, WikiWorks

Source: Figure 9B

Description: Differentially abundant bacterial in Normal control (NCc) and Socially isolated (SIc) mice housed for 15 weeks

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Acidobacteriota
Adlercreutzia
Akkermansia
Alcaligenaceae
Anaerostipes
Anaerovoracaceae
Bacteroidaceae
Bacteroides
Bacteroidia
Comamonadaceae
Coriobacteriales
Coriobacteriia
Deferribacteraceae
Deferribacterales
Deferribacteres
Lactococcus
Mucispirillum
Sphingomonas
Sutterella

Revision editor(s): Barrakat, Peace Sandy, WikiWorks

Signature 2

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Curated date: 2024/04/18

Curator: Barrakat

Revision editor(s): Barrakat, Peace Sandy, WikiWorks

Source: Figure 9B

Description: Differentially abundant bacterial taxa in Normal control (NCc) and Socially isolated (SIc) mice housed for 15 weeks

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Bacilli
Bacillota
Cyanobacteriota
Lactobacillaceae
Lactobacillus
Marinomonas
Methylobacteriaceae
Methylobacterium
Oceanospirillaceae
Odoribacter
Odoribacteraceae

Revision editor(s): Barrakat, Peace Sandy, WikiWorks