Ghrelin Signaling Regulates Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Abstract
Gut microbiota is a critical regulator of hosts metabolism, immune system and cognitive function. However, the microbiome-gut-brain axis has not been systematically studied in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), much less in Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A novel experimental 2-hit model (IBD-PTSD) is established, where mice are subjected to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis and then conditioned fear (CF) memory test, to study the role of microbiome-gut-brain axis in these inflammatory pathologies. In this research period, we found that DSS induced colitis lead to contextual memory deficit in female mice but not in male mice, even when colitis-associated disease symptoms such as diarrhea and rectal bleeding have subsided. The in vivo data suggest that hippocampus-dependent memory function was negatively impacted by an active episode of colitis, while the amygdala-dependent fear recall was relatively unaffected. Whether colitis-exposed mice show increased stress response will be further addressed in the following funding period. Downstream molecular, biochemical and microbiome analyses are currently underway to corroborate the in vivo data.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1133887
Entities
People
- Chia S. Wu
Organizations
- Texas A&M University