Integrative analysis of microbiome and metabolome in mouse model simulating features of post-traumatic stress disorder (982.1)

The gastrointestinal tract is colonized by an enormous array of microbial symbiotes and pathogens. The symbiote influence of gut microbiota on the nervous system and behavior has been receiving profound interest. Rodent studies have provided suggestive evidence that probiotics (e.g. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) can influence behavior. Using "cage-within-cage resident-intruder" model, subject C57BL/6J mice were exposed to aggressors for 6 h daily for 5 or 10 days. After one day of recovery inflammatory cardiac histopathologies were prevalent. Here we report metagenomics and metabolomics approaches to understanding the microbiome activity in our social stress model of mice. Plasma samples were compared between aggressor-exposed and control mice using various Mass Spec-based techniques. Large effects of microbiome composition on plasma biochemistry were observed, and several microbiome-affected molecules such as hippurate, phenylpropionylglycine, and 3-phenylpropionic were identified in plasma. We also...