Effects of prenatal and continued postnatal probiotic treatment on physiological and behavioural outcomes with implications for the stress response

肠道微生物组（细菌和其他栖息在肠道中的微生物）的组成已被证明会影响行为，因此，肠道细菌如何影响大脑以实现这一目标提出了一个问题。**Lallemand Health Solutions （Montreal, Canada）在生产安全益生菌（例如**Lacidofil®、Probio'Stick®）方面取得了稳步进展，这些益生菌对压力相关的肠道和情绪结果有有益的影响。肠道微生物群受到饮食和压力的影响，这两者都有跨代效应，这意味着父母的饮食和压力会影响后代的发育。虽然Lallemand认识到他们的产品有可能产生这样的影响，但目前他们缺乏内部专业知识来研究这一点，使用体内动物模型，能够解决这种情况如何在母亲和后代的机制方面发生。**Lallemand需要Perrot实验室常规使用的专业知识、设施和动物模型：1)**研究益生菌补充剂对暴露于**早期生活压力和不健康饮食的后代的大脑和行为的影响；2)检查母亲补充益生菌是否会影响母亲的护理行为，并为后代提供保护作用（即减少应激反应，减少炎症，减少焦虑样行为）。为了解决这些问题，已经完成了两个实验。初步结果表明，在怀孕和哺乳期间给母鼠补充益生菌可以提高母鼠对幼鼠的照顾质量，而断奶后，即使喂食高脂肪食物，幼鼠的体重增加也会略低。需要资金来完成对后代焦虑相关行为的评分，以及分析包括大脑和肠道在内的各种组织中的压力和代谢相关指标。这些结果将为Lallemand提供关键信息，以更有效地推销益生菌，并在特定人群中增加其市场份额。这也将为达尔豪斯大学和拉勒曼德之间的持续合作奠定基础，以继续研究益生菌对加拿大人的有益影响。

The composition of the gut microbiome (bacteria and other microorganisms that inhabit the gut) has been**shown to influence behaviour and thus, raises the question of how gut bacteria affect the brain to achieve this.**Lallemand Health Solutions (Montreal, Canada) have made steady progress in producing safe probiotics (e.g.,**Lacidofil®, Probio'Stick®) that have beneficial effects on stress-related gut and mood outcomes. The gut**microbiome is influenced by diet and stress, both of which can have transgenerational effects, meaning that**parental diet and stress can program offspring outcomes. While Lallemand recognizes the potential for their**products to have such effects, presently they lack the in-house expertise to investigate this using in vivo animal**model that are capable of addressing how this occurs with respect to mechanisms in the mom and offspring.**Lallemand requires the expertise, facilities, and animal models that are routinely used in the Perrot lab to: 1)**investigate the impact of probiotic supplementation on both the brain and behaviour of offspring exposed to**early-life stress and unhealthy diet; and 2) examine if probiotic supplementation of mothers influences maternal**care behaviours and provides protective effects to the offspring (i.e., decreased stress responding, a reduction in**inflammation, fewer anxiety-like behaviours) against stress. Two experiments have been completed to address**these questions. Preliminary results show that probiotic supplementation to mother rats during pregnancy and**nursing increases the quality of the care she provides to her young, who in turn show slightly lower weight gain**by weaning, even when exposed to a high-fat diet. Funds are requested to complete the scoring of**anxiety-related behaviour in the offspring as well as analyze stress- and metabolic-related measures in various**tissues including brain and gut. These results will provide critical information for Lallemand to more**effectively market their probiotics and increase their market share among specific segments of the population.**It will also lay the foundation for a continued collaboration between Dalhousie University and Lallemand to**continue investigation of the beneficial effects of probiotics for Canadians.