Efeitos da administração da inulina sobre a microbiota e alterações comportamentais relacionadas a comportamentos do tipo obsessivos-compulsivos e ansiosos em camundongos lactentes filhos de mães tratadas com antígenos solúveis de Toxoplasma gondii (STAg)

Abstract

Several studies have shown the influence of microbiota on the development and functioning of the central nervous system, and dysbiosis is considered a possible cause of mental disorders. It is also known that immunogenic challenges that occur to the mother during pregnancy (maternal immune activation) trigger inflammatory events associated with behavioral disorders in the offspring. Numerous studies have shown the role of the intestinal microbiota on the central nervous system and the importance of prebiotics, such as inulin, in modulating microbiota. Pregnant C57BLJ/6 female mice were divided into two groups, one receiving STAg and the other PBS intraperitoneally at E16. The pups received oral treatment, water or inulin, from the 3rd to the 21st day of life. The adult animals were subjected to the marble burying test, analyzing repetitive and compulsive behavior. The STAg + Water group buried the highest number of spheres compared to the PBS + Water (control) group, for both male and female offspring. In females, it was also observed that inulin (STAg + Inulin group) decreased repetitive behavior compared to the untreated group (STAg + Water). It was concluded that the immunogenic challenge with STAg in mothers caused behavioral changes in the offspring in adulthood, and inulin, at the concentration used in this experiment and administered during the lactation phase, was able to reverse the effect of STAg only in the STAg group.