Effects of Diet Quality and Psychosocial Stress on the Metabolic Profiles of Mice

Abstract

There has been an increasing interest in relationship between stress and diet. To address this relationship, we evaluated an animal model of depression: male C57BL/6J mice subjected to subchronic mild social defeat stress (sCSDS) for 10 consecutive days using male ICR mice under two different calorie-adjusted diets conditions-nonpurified (MF) and semipurified (AIN) diets made from natural and chemical ingredients mainly, respectively. Our previous study indicates that diet quality and purity affect stress susceptibility in sCSDS mice. We therefore hypothesized that there are some key peripheral metabolites to change stress-susceptible behavior. GC-MS metabolomics of plasma, liver, and cecal content were performed on four test groups: sCSDS + AIN diet (n = 7), sCSDS + MF diet (n = 6), control (no sCSDS) + AIN diet (n = 8), and control + MF diet (n = 8). Metabolome analyses revealed that the number of metabolites changed by food was larger than the number changed by stress in all tissues. Enrichment analysis of the liver metabolite set altered by food implies that stress-susceptible mice show increased glycolysis-related substrates in the liver. We found metabolites that were affected by stress (e.g., plasma and liver 4-hydroxyproline and plasma beta-alanine are higher in sCSDS than in control) and a stress × food interaction (e.g., plasma GABA is lower in sCSDS + AIN than in sCSDS + MF). Because functional compounds were altered by both stress and food, diet may be able to attenuate various stress-induced symptoms by changing metabolites in peripheral tissues.

Plasma lipid profile associates with the improvement of psychological well-being in individuals with perceived stress symptoms

“…Several experimental studies have previously shown how the profile of blood metabolites could reflect behavioural symptoms. In mice, stress has been indicated by higher plasma levels of 4-hydroxyproline, 3-aminopropanoic acid, orotic acid, and lower urea, dihydroxyacetone, ribose, lactic acid, and glycerol 14 . In dogs, behavioural scores similar to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have been associated positively with kynurenic acid, fatty acids (20:4) and (18:1), and negatively with phospholipids and microbial metabolites of tryptophan such as indole acetic acid and 3-indolepropionic acid 15 .…”

Metabolomics Approach Reveals the Effects of Breed and Feed on the Composition of Chicken Eggs

“…The P values were adjusted using the Benjamini−Hochberg correction, and post-adjustment are referred to as Q values. The metabolome-wide significance threshold was set at Q < 0.1, following previous studies [26,27,50,51].…”

“…Typical metabolite analyses use gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS), capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry (CE–MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Metabolome analyses have previously been used to identify changes caused by stress and/or feed in mice using CE–MS [26] and GC–MS [27], so we expect a metabolomics approach to provide useful insight into the role of breed and feed in determining egg composition.…”

The Potential of Carnosine in Brain-Related Disorders: A Comprehensive Review of Current Evidence

“…Plasma β-alanine levels were shown to be increased in models of rodents with depression [136] and intracerebroventricular administration of this amino acid that inhibited exploratory behaviour and motility in chicks [137]. In contrast, a diet supplemented with β-alanine induced anxiolytic-like behaviour in mice under acute stressful conditions with concomitant reductions in 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (a major metabolite of serotonin) in the hippocampus [138].…”