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Cited by 106Gut microbiota and healthMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumTryptophan and brain disorders

Maternal gut and fetal brain connection: Increased anxiety and reduced social interactions in Wistar rat offspring following peri-conceptional antibiotic exposure

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Degroote, Stéphanie, Hunting, Darel J., Baccarelli, Andrea A., Takser, Larissa·2016·Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
DOI 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2016.06.010PMC PMC6584952
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Abstract

Background A growing body of evidence indicates that gut microbiota characteristics may be closely related to mental dysfunctions. However, no studies have investigated fetal brain development in relation to the maternal gut microbiota, despite the extensive use of antibiotics in obstetric practice. Objective To determine how periconceptional exposure to SuccinylSulfaThiazole (SST), a non-absorbable antibiotic, can affect behavior in rat offspring. This antibiotic drug has previously been shown to substantially perturb the gut microbiota in rats following a 28-day exposure. Methods Female Wistar rats were divided in two groups: control, or exposed during one month before breeding until gestational day 15 to a diet containing 1% SST. We administered behavioral tests to offspring, i.e., open field (post-natal day 20), social interactions (P25), marble burying (P30), elevated plus maze (P35), and prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex (sensory gating) (P45). Results Both male and female offspring exposed peri-conceptionally to SST showed reduced social interactions, with a decrease of about half in time spent in social interactions compared to controls, reduced exploration of the open arm by 20% in the elevated plus maze test indicating increased anxiety and altered sensorimotor gating, with a 1.5-2-fold decrease in startle inhibition. Conclusion Maternal periconceptional exposure to SST provokes alterations in offspring behavior in the absence of maternal infection. Because we administered SST, a non-absorbable antibiotic, only to the dam, we conclude that these neurobehavioral alterations in the offspring are related to maternal gut microbiota alterations.

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  • Antibiotic administration resulting in a marked reduction in gut microbial diversity is associated with deficits in social behavior in rodents.

    “Several studies have documented that antibiotic administration, resulting in a marked reduction in gut microbial diversity, is associated with deficits in social behavior (Degroote et al., 2016;Desbonnet et al., 2015).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Degroote et al., 2016

    The Results report that offspring of SST-treated rats spent about 50% less time in social interactions than controls. But the Discussion says the authors did not measure the gut microbiome in this study; they assumed it was altered based on earlier work. The paper therefore does not establish the claimed marked reduction in microbial diversity. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Antibiotic administration to laboratory animals has been shown to influence behaviors such as sociability and anxiety.

    “antibiotic administration to laboratory animals has been shown to influence behaviors such as sociability and anxiety (Degroote et al., 2016;Frohlich et al., 2016;Guida et al., 2018).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Degroote et al., 2016

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Sorted by citations

Authors
Degroote, S., Hunting, D. J., Baccarelli, A. A., & Takser, L.
Affiliations
  • Université de Sherbrooke (CA)
  • Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Takser, Larissa
ORCID
Venue
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-11
Volume
71
Pages
76-82
ISSN
0278-5846 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.pnpbp.2016.06.010
PMC
PMC6584952
OpenAlex
W2472238195
Cited by
106
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1
FWCI
4.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Research Center of the CHUS (PAFI2014)
  • NIH (5R21ES024841)
  • FRQ-S
  • CIHR (the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) New Investigator Award
  • QTNPR (Québec Training Network in Perinatal Research)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
Keywords
maternal gut microbiota, prenatal antibiotic exposure, succinylsulfathiazole, anxiety-like behavior, social interaction deficits, prepulse inhibition, sensory gating, fetal brain development, offspring neurobehavior, maternal-fetal axis, Wistar rats
MeSH terms
Acoustic Stimulation, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Anti-Infective Agents, Anxiety, Eating, Exploratory Behavior, Female, Homocysteine, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Sulfathiazoles, Tryptophan, Rats, Wistar, Maze Learning, Rats, Prepulse Inhibition

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