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DNBS/TNBS Colitis Models: Providing Insights Into Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Effects of Dietary Fat
Published on: February 27, 2014
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Repeated predictable stress causes resilience against colitis-induced behavioral changes in mice
Ahmed M Hassan1, Piyush Jain1, Florian Reichmann1
1Research Unit of Translational Neurogastroenterology, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Graz Graz, Austria.
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
|November 22, 2014
Summary
Chronic stress (water avoidance stress) prevented behavioral changes in mice with colitis, despite the intestinal inflammation severity remaining unchanged. This resilience involved hypothalamic neuropeptide Y and the HPA axis.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gastroenterology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is linked to mental health issues and stress.
- Stress can worsen IBD symptoms and associated psychological conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate behavioral changes in mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis.
- To examine how repeated psychological stress (water avoidance stress, WAS) interacts with colitis to affect behavior.
- To analyze the neurochemical basis of this stress-colitis interaction.
Main Methods:
- Male C57Bl/6N mice were subjected to DSS-induced colitis and/or repeated WAS for 7 days.
- Behavioral tests included open field and social interaction tests.
- Colitis severity was assessed by colon length, myeloperoxidase, and cytokine levels.
- Neurochemical analysis involved measuring mRNA and circulating factors like neuropeptide Y (NPY) and corticosterone.
Main Results:
- DSS-induced colitis decreased locomotion, increased anxiety, and reduced social interaction.
- WAS alone had minimal behavioral effects but prevented DSS-induced behavioral changes.
- WAS did not alter colitis severity markers (colon length, MPO, cytokines).
- Colitis increased circulating NPY and altered hypothalamic and hippocampal gene expression (COX-2, NPY, BDNF, MR).
- WAS blunted behavioral disturbances, associated with increased corticosterone and hypothalamic NPY mRNA.
Conclusions:
- Experimental colitis induces specific behavioral alterations.
- Repeated WAS, a model of predictable chronic stress, can prevent these behavioral changes without affecting colitis severity.
- Hypothalamic NPY and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are key mechanisms mediating stress-induced resilience to colitis-associated behavioral changes.
