2. Academic Validation
  3. Repeated 3,3-Dimethyl-1-butanol exposure alters social dominance in adult mice

Repeated 3,3-Dimethyl-1-butanol exposure alters social dominance in adult mice

  • Neurosci Lett. 2021 Jul 27;758:136006. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136006.
Jiawen Mao 1,  Penghui Zhao 1,  Qian Wang 1,  Aixin Chen 2,  Xuzi Li 2,  Xianjie Li 2,  Tingxuan Liu 2,  Zifei Tao 2,  Xi Wang 1,  Yuru Du 1,  Miao Gong 2,  Li Song 3,  Yuan Gao 4,  Haishui Shi 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Medical and Health Science of HeBMU, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Hebei Medicinal University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China.
  • 2 Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Medical and Health Science of HeBMU, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China.
  • 3 Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Medical and Health Science of HeBMU, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Hebei Medicinal University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Basic Medicine, Hebei Medicinal University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China.
  • 4 Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Medical and Health Science of HeBMU, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Hebei Medicinal University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Basic Medicine, Hebei Medicinal University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China. Electronic address: gy@hebmu.edu.cn.
  • 5 Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Medical and Health Science of HeBMU, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Hebei Medicinal University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Basic Medicine, Hebei Medicinal University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China; Research Unit of Digestive Tract Microecosystem Pharmacology and Toxicology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050017, China. Electronic address: shihs@hebmu.edu.cn.
PMID: 34098029 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136006
Abstract

The influence of gut microbiota on brain function and brain disorders has been attracted more and more attention. Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), an indirect metabolite of gut microbiota, has been linked to aging, cognitive impairment, and other brain disorders. However, the relationship between TMAO and social behaviors are still poorly understood. Adult male mice were exposed to drinking water containing 3,3- Dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB), an indirect inhibitors of TMAO, for 21 continuous days followed by a series of behavioral tests to detect the effect of DMB exposure on social behaviors, mainly including social dominance test (SDT), bedding preference test (BP), sexual preference test (SP), social interaction test (SI), open field test (OFT), tail suspension test (TST), forced swim test (FST), novelty suppressed feeding test (NSF), and novel object recognition (NOR) task. In the SDT, compared with the control group, the mice treated with DMB (both 0.2% and 1.0%), both high-ranked and low-ranked mice, showed a reduction in the number of victories. There is no statistical difference on sexual preference, anxiety, depression-like behavior phenotype, and memory formation. In conclusion, the present findings provide direct evidence, for the first time, that repeated DMB exposure produces significant effects on social dominance of adult mice, without any effects on sexual preference, anxiety, depression-like behavior phenotype or memory formation, highlighting the regulatory effects of gut-brain interaction on social behaviors.

Keywords

3,3- Dimethyl-1-butanol; Gut microbiota; Social behaviors; Social dominance; Trimethylamine oxide.

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