Gut Microbiome and Metabolome Changes in Mice With Acute Vestibular Deficit

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Microbiology
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Vestibular deficit commonly presents with anxiety, with overlapping neural networks implicated.
• The microbiota-gut-brain axis is increasingly recognized for its role in affective disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the hypothesis that gut microbiota influences the comorbidity of vestibular deficit and anxiety.
• To analyze microbiome and metabolome changes in a mouse model of vestibular deficit.

Main Methods:

• Unilateral labyrinthectomy mouse model to simulate vestibular deficit.
• 16S rRNA gene sequencing for microbiome analysis.
• Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for metabolome analysis.
• Functional prediction using Tax4Fun.

Main Results:

• Unilateral labyrinthectomy altered gut microbiome composition, increasing Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group, Odoribacter, and Roseburia, while decreasing Prevotella and Parasutterella.
• Tryptophan metabolism was predicted to decrease.
• Specific correlations were found between microbial abundance and metabolite levels (e.g., Odoribacter and oleamide, Parasutterella and butyric acid/20-HETE, Prevotella and propanoate).

Conclusions:

• Gut microbiota alterations are associated with vestibular deficit.
• These microbial and metabolic changes may contribute to the pathogenesis of anxiety comorbidity.
• Provides a basis for further research into the etiology of vestibular deficit and anxiety.