Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder thought to be caused by accumulation of α-synuclein (α-syn) within the brain, autonomic nerves, and the enteric nervous system (ENS). Involvement of the ENS in PD often precedes the onset of the classic motor signs of PD by many years at a time when severe constipation represents a major morbidity. Studies conducted in vitro and in vivo, have shown that squalamine, a zwitterionic amphipathic aminosterol, originally isolated from the liver of the dogfish shark, effectively displaces membrane-bound α-syn. Objective: Here we explore the electrophysiological effect of squalamine on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of mouse models of PD engineered to express the highly aggregating A53T human α-syn mutant. Methods: GI motility and in vivo response to oral squalamine in PD model mice and controls were assessed using an in vitro tissue motility protocol and via fecal pellet output. Vagal afferent response to squalamine was measured using extracellular mesenteric nerve recordings from the jejunum. Whole cell patch clamp was performed to measure response to squalamine in the myenteric plexus. Results: Squalamine effectively restores disordered colonic motility in vivo and within minutes of local application to the bowel. We show that topical squalamine exposure to intrinsic primary afferent neurons (IPANs) of the ENS rapidly restores excitability. Conclusion: These observations may help to explain how squalamine may promote gut propulsive activity through local effects on IPANs in the ENS, and further support its possible utility in the treatment of constipation in patients with PD.

There is a general decline in gastrointestinal function in old age including decreased intestinal motility, sensory signaling, and afferent sensitivity. There is also increased prevalence of significant constipation in aged populations. We hypothesized this may be linked to reduced colonic motility and alterations in vagal-gut-brain sensory signaling. Using in vitro preparations from young (3 months) and old (18–24 months) male CD1 mice we report functional age-related differences in colonic motility and jejunal mesenteric afferent firing. Furthermore, we tested the effect of the aminosterol squalamine on colonic motility and jejunal vagal firing rate. Old mice had significantly reduced velocity of colonic migrating motor complexes (MMC) by 27% compared to young mice (p = 0.0161). Intraluminal squalamine increased colonic MMC velocity by 31% in old mice (p = 0.0150), which also had significantly reduced mesenteric afferent single-unit firing rates from the jejunum by 51% (p < 0.0001). The jejunal vagal afferent firing rate was reduced in aged mice by 62% (p = 0.0004). While the time to peak response to squalamine was longer in old mice compared to young mice (18.82 ± 1.37 min vs. 12.95 ± 0.99 min; p = 0.0182), it significantly increased vagal afferent firing rate by 36 and 56% in young and old mice, respectively (p = 0.0006, p = 0.0013). Our results show for the first time that the jejunal vagal afferent firing rate is reduced in aged-mice. They also suggest that there is translational potential for the therapeutic use of squalamine in the treatment of age-related constipation and dysmotility.

Antibiotic-mediated changes to the intestinal microbiome have largely been assumed to be the basis of antibiotic-induced neurophysiological and behavioral changes. However, relatively little research has addressed whether antibiotics act directly on the host nervous system to produce these changes. We aimed to identify whether acute exposure of the gastrointestinal tract to antibiotics directly modulates neuronally dependent motility reflexes, ex vivo. Motility of colon and jejunum segments in a perfusion organ bath was recorded by video and alterations to neuronally dependent propagating contractile clusters (PCC), measured using spatiotemporal maps of diameter changes. Short latency (<10 min) changes to PCC serve as an index of putative effects on the host nervous system. Bacitracin, penicillin V, and neomycin, all produced dose-dependent alterations to the velocity, frequency, and amplitude of PCC. Most significantly, colonic PCC velocity increased by 53% [probability of superiority (PS) = 87%] with 1.42 mg/ml bacitracin, 19% (PS = 81%) with 0.91 mg/ml neomycin, and 19% (PS = 86%) with 3.88 mg/ml penicillin V. Colonic frequency increased by 16% (PS = 73%) with 1.42 mg/ml bacitracin, 21% (PS = 79%) with 0.91 mg/ml neomycin, and 34% (PS = 85%) at 3.88 mg/ml penicillin V. Conversely, colonic amplitude decreased by 41% (PS = 79%) with 1.42 mg/ml bacitracin, 30% (PS = 80%) with 0.27 mg/ml neomycin and 25% (PS = 79%) at 3.88 mg/ml penicillin V. In the jejunum, antibiotic-specific changes were identified. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that acute exposure of the gastrointestinal lumen to antibiotics modulates neuronal reflexes. Future work should acknowledge the importance of this mechanism in mediating antibiotic-driven changes on gut-brain signaling.

Background Stress causes severe dysmotility in the mammalian gut. Almost all research done to date has concentrated on prevention of stress-induced altered gut motility but not on treatment. We had previously shown that intraluminal 2′FL could acutely moderate propulsive motility in isolated mouse colonic segments. Because 2′FL appeared to modulate enteric nervous system dependent motility, we wondered if the oligosaccharide could reverse the effects of prior restraint stress, ex vivo. We tested whether 2′FL could benefit the dysmotility of isolated jejunal and colonic segments from animals subjected to prior acute restraint stress. Methods Jejunal and colonic segments were obtained from male Swiss Webster mice that were untreated or subjected to 1 hour of acute restraint stress. Segments were perfused with Krebs buffer and propagating contractile clusters (PCC) digitally video recorded. 2′FL or β-lactose were added to the perfusate at a concentration of 1 mg/ml. Spatiotemporal maps were constructed from paired before and after treatment recordings, each consisting of 20 min duration and PCC analyzed for frequency, velocity and amplitude. Key Results Stress decreased propulsive motility in murine small intestine while increasing it in the colon. 2′FL in jejunum of previously stressed mice produced a 50% increase in PCC velocity (p = 0.0001), a 43% increase in frequency (p = 0.0002) and an insignificant decrease in peak amplitude. For stressed colon, 2′FL reduced the frequency by 23% (p = 0.017) and peak amplitude by 26% (p = 0.011), and was without effect on velocity. β-lactose had negligible or small treatment effects. Conclusions & Inferences We show that the prebiotic 2′FL may have potential as a treatment for acute stress-induced gut dysmotility, ex vivo, and that, as is the case for certain beneficial microbes, the mechanism occurs in the gut, likely via action on the enteric nervous system.