Effects of ultrasound-induced stress on gut microbiota of mice

Vet World Vol.16 May-2023 Article-5

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(5): 929-938

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.929-938

Irina Chernukha¹, Ekaterina Vasilevskaya¹, Ksenia Klimina², Roman Yunes², Nadezhda Kupaeva¹, Galina Tolmacheva¹, Anastasiya Kibitkina¹, Valery Danilenko², Sergey Karabanov¹, and Liliya Fedulova¹

1. Department of Experimental Clinic and Research Laboratory for Bioactive Substances of Animal Origin, V.M. Gorbatov Federal Research Center for Food Systems, Moscow, Russia.
2. Department of Genetics of Microorganisms, Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

Background and Aim: Prolonged stress causes deleterious effects on both the organism and its microbiota. In this study, we examined the effects of exposure to variable frequency ultrasound (US) on the gut microbiota-liver-brain axis of mice.

Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 mature clinically healthy sexually naive C57BL/6J male mice (42–45 days old). Group 1 (Normal) consisted of healthy intact mice (n = 10). Group 2 (Stress) consisted of mice subjected to US-induced stress (n = 10) for 20 days with alternating frequencies (20–45 kHz). Stool samples were collected on days 0, 10, and 20, and the corresponding DNA was later subjected to 16SrRNA sequencing. After mice were sacrificed on day 21, the leukocyte count, blood serum biochemical parameters, and liver and brain antioxidant status were measured. Behavioral testing was performed on days 17, 18, and 19.

Results: Ultrasound lead to higher stress and anxiety levels; increase in creatinine by 8.29% and gamma-glutamyltransferase activity by 5 times, a decrease in alkaline phosphatase activity by 38.23%, increase of de Ritis coefficient by 21.34%; increased liver and brain superoxide dismutase level by 20.8% and 21.5%, respectively; the stress-related changes in the gut microbiota composition – Bacteroidaceae and Firmicutes.

Conclusion: Subjecting mice to 20 days of US-induced stress leads to systemic disorders due to oxidative stress and a decrease in the diversity of the gut microbiota. Keywords: antioxidant system, bacterial metabolites, gut microbiota, ultrasound-induced stress.

Keywords: antioxidant system, bacterial metabolites, gut microbiota, ultrasound-induced stress.

How to cite this article: Chernukha I, Vasilevskaya E, Klimina K, Yunes R, Kupaeva N, Tolmacheva G, Kibitkina A, Danilenko V, Karabanov S, and Fedulova L (2023) Effects of ultrasound-induced stress on gut microbiota of mice, Veterinary World, 16(5):929-938.

Received: 16-12-2022 Accepted: 10-04-2023 Published online: 07-05-2023

Corresponding author: E-mail: karabans89@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.929-938

Copyright: Chernukha, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.