Effects of gut microbiota disturbance induced in early life on the expression of extrasynaptic GABA-A receptor α5 and δ subunits in the hippocampus of adult rat

Publication date: Available online 28 September 2017
Source:Brain Research Bulletin
Author(s): Liang Liang, Jingping Yuan, Shiying Zhang, Hao Wu
Previous studies have demonstrated that gut microbiota disturbance significantly increases the risk of emotional disorders via gut-brain axis, but the mechanism is unclear. Furthermore, Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) deficits were reported to be implicated in development of depression and amnesia, but the alterations of GABA-A receptor subunits in pathogenetic process have not been fully elucidated. This study used juvenile rats fed with amplin-Na in order to result in degree III of dysbiosis of intestinal flora and examined their emotional change using tail suspension test, forced swim test and Morris water maze. And our study investigated the expression of GABA-A receptor α5 and δ subunits in the hippocampus in the adulthood using q-pcr and immunohistochemistry. We aimed to observe the role of GABA-A receptor α5 and δ subunits changes induced by juvenile gut microbiota disturbance in the pathogenesis of emotional disorders in adulthood. In addition, we investigated the protective effects of probiotics and benzodiazepine (clonazepam). This finding showed that juvenile gut microbiota disturbance induced chronic depression and memory loss, and reduced expression of GABA-A receptor α5 and δ subunits in the hippocampus of adult rat. Furthermore, moderate probiotics administration led to significant improvement as compared to short-term BZ treatment. However, We are aware that these results have been established with single animal experiment and will require further confirmation with a larger group of individuals. Future direction for exploration of the effects of gut microbiota disturbance on GABA-A receptor α5 and δ subunits are discussed.



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