Oral short-chain fatty acids administration regulates innate anxiety in adult microbiome-depleted mice

Anxiety is characterized by feelings of tension and worry even in the absence of threatening stimulus. Pathological condition of anxiety elicits defensive behavior and aversive reaction ultimately impacting individuals and society. The gut microbiota has been shown to contribute to the modulation of anxiety-like behavior in rodents through the gut-brain axis. Several studies observed that germ-free (GF) and the broad spectrum of antibiotic cocktail (ABX)-treated rodents display lowered anxiety-like behavior. We speculate that gut microbial short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) modulate the innate anxiety response. Herein, we administered SCFA in the drinking water in adult mice treated with ABX to deplete the microbiota and tested their anxiety-like behavior. To further augment the innate fear response, we enhanced the aversive stimulus of the anxiety-like behavior tests. Strikingly, we found that the anxiety-like behavior in ABX mice was not altered when enhanced aversive stimulus, while control and ABX mice supplemented with SCFA displayed increased anxiety-like behavior. Vagus nerve serves as a promising signaling pathway in the gut-brain axis. We determined the role of vagus nerve by subdiaphragmatic vagotomy (SDV) in ABX mice supplemented with SCFA. We found that the restored anxiety-like behavior in ABX mice by SCFA was unaffected by SDV. These findings suggest that gut microbiota can regulate anxiety-like behavior through their fermentation products SCFA. This article is part of the Special Issue on ‘Microbiome & the Brain: Mechanisms & Maladies’.