Cited by 563Gut microbiota and healthTryptophan and brain disordersGastrointestinal motility and disorders

Obese-type gut microbiota induce neurobehavioral changes in the absence of obesity

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Bruce-Keller, Annadora J., Salbaum, J. Michael, Luo, Meng, Blanchard, Eugene, Taylor, Christopher M., Welsh, David A., Berthoud, Hans-Rudolf·2015·Biological Psychiatry

Abstract

Background The prevalence of mental illness, particularly depression and dementia, is increased by obesity. Here, we test the hypothesis that obesity-associated changes in gut microbiota are intrinsically able to impair neurocognitive behavior in mice.Methods Conventionally housed, nonobese, adult male C57BL/6 mice maintained on a normal chow diet were subjected to a microbiome depletion/transplantation paradigm using microbiota isolated from donors on either a high-fat diet (HFD) or control diet. Following re-colonization, mice were subjected to comprehensive behavioral and biochemical analyses.Results The mice given HFD microbiota had significant and selective disruptions in exploratory, cognitive, and stereotypical behavior compared with mice with control diet microbiota in the absence of significant differences in body weight. Sequencing-based phylogenetic analysis confirmed the presence of distinct core microbiota between groups, with alterations in α- and β-diversity, modulation in taxonomic distribution, and statistically significant alterations to metabolically active taxa. HFD microbiota also disrupted markers of intestinal barrier function, increased circulating endotoxin, and increased lymphocyte expression of ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1, toll-like receptor 2, and toll-like receptor 4. Finally, evaluation of brain homogenates revealed that HFD-shaped microbiota increased neuroinflammation and disrupted cerebrovascular homeostasis.Conclusions Collectively, these data reinforce the link between gut dysbiosis and neurologic dysfunction and suggest that dietary and/or pharmacologic manipulation of gut microbiota could attenuate the neurologic complications of obesity.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.07.012

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  • Both the obese phenotype and anxiodepressive behaviors are transmissible by transplanting gut microbiota of diet-induced obese mice to normal-weight, germ-free mice.

    “Notably, both the obese phenotype [73] and anxiodepressive behaviors [74] are transmissible by transplanting gut microbiota of DIO to normal-weight, germ-free mice.”

    From The menace of obesity to depression and anxiety prevalence (2022) · cites this paper as [73]

  • Microbiota from diet-induced obese mice can weaken endothelial tight junctions and trigger inflammation in both intestine and brain and promote brain insulin resistance.

    “Moreover, the microbiota from DIO mice can weaken endothelial tight junctions and trigger inflammation in both intestine and brain and promote brain insulin resistance [73,74].”

    From The menace of obesity to depression and anxiety prevalence (2022) · cites this paper as [73]

  • Mice colonized with GM from donors fed a high-fat diet show compositionally distinct microbiota, altered biochemical markers, and impairments in exploratory, cognitive, and stereotypical behaviors without significant body weight differences.

    “Mice colonized with GM from donors fed a high-fat diet demonstrated compositionally distinct microbiota, altered biochemical markers, and developed impairments in exploratory, cognitive, and stereotypical behaviors, in the absence of significant differences in body weight (516).”
  • Disrupted barrier function could facilitate translocation of bacterial metabolites and immune mediators from the gut into circulation, which could lead to activation of microglia as seen in an induced dysbiosis mouse model.

    “disrupted barrier function could facilitate the translocation of bacterial metabolites and immune mediators from the gut into circulation (Fig. 1), which could lead to activation of microglia as seen in an induced dysbiosis mouse model [40].”
  • Dysbiosis introduced in conventionally housed adult mice leads to abnormal behaviors, altered barrier functions, and activation of microglia.

    “In addition, dysbiosis introduced in conventionally housed adult mice also leads to abnormal behaviors, altered barrier functions, and activation of the microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain [40].”

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Authors
Bruce-Keller, A. J., Salbaum, J. M., Luo, M., Blanchard, E., Taylor, C. M., Welsh, D. A., & Berthoud, H.-R.
Affiliations
  • Pennington Biomedical Research Center (US)
  • Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans (US)
Venue
Biological Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-04
Volume
77
Issue
7
Pages
607-615
ISSN
0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2087084954
Cited by
563
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 70 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 3
FWCI
15.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (DK047348, P20-RR021945, P30-DK072476, P60-AA009803)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
gut microbiota, obesity, neurobehavioral abnormalities, high-fat diet, microbiota transplantation, microbiota depletion, neuroinflammation, intestinal barrier function, endotoxin, Toll-like receptors, depression, dementia, gut-brain axis
MeSH terms
Animals, Body Weight, Brain, Exploratory Behavior, Male, Memory, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Motor Activity, Obesity, Stereotyped Behavior, Gastrointestinal Tract, Diet, High-Fat, Microbiota

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