EPA and DHA Alleviated Chronic Dextran Sulfate Sodium Exposure-Induced Depressive-like Behaviors in Mice and Potential Mechanisms Involved

• Published in: Marine drugs Vol. 22; no. 2; p. 76
• Main Authors: Wang, Xi-Yu, He, Shu-Sen, Zhou, Miao-Miao, Li, Xiao-Ran, Wang, Cheng-Cheng, Zhao, Ying-Cai, Xue, Chang-Hu, Che, Hong-Xia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 31.01.2024
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Brain; Brain damage; Brain injury; Brain research; colitis induced depression; Colon; Complications and side effects; Cytokines; Depression, Mental; Dextran; Dextran sulfate; Dextrans; DHA; Dosage and administration; EPA; gut microbiota; Health care; Homeostasis; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Intestine; Intestines; Memory; Mental depression; Microbiota; microorganisms; neurons; occludins; Oral administration; Permeability; Prevention; Protein expression; Proteins; Psychological aspects; Risk factors; Serotonin; signal transduction; Sodium; species diversity; Sulfates; tail; Testing; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Ulcerative colitis; Unsaturated fatty acids; Zonula occludens-1 protein; China; colitis induced depression; DHA; inflammation; gut microbiota; EPA
• ISSN: 1660-3397; 1660-3397
• DOI: 10.3390/md22020076

Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) have higher rates of depression. However, the mechanism of depression development remains unclear. The improvements of EPA and DHA on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC have been verified. Therefore, the present study mainly focused on the effects of EPA and DHA on UC-induced depression in C57BL/6 mice and the possible mechanisms involved. A forced swimming test and tail suspension experiment showed that EPA and DHA significantly improved DSS-induced depressive-like behavior. Further analysis demonstrated that EPA and DHA could significantly suppress the inflammation response of the gut and brain by regulating the NLRP3/ASC signal pathway. Moreover, intestine and brain barriers were maintained by enhancing ZO-1 and occludin expression. In addition, EPA and DHA also increased the serotonin (5-HT) concentration and synaptic proteins. Interestingly, EPA and DHA treatments increased the proportion of dominant bacteria, alpha diversity, and beta diversity. In conclusion, oral administration of EPA and DHA alleviated UC-induced depressive-like behavior in mice by modulating the inflammation, maintaining the mucosal and brain barriers, suppressing neuronal damage and reverting microbiota changes.