Association Of Alcohol Drinking Behaviors And Gut Microbiome In A Rat Experimental Model PDF Download

Microbes in the gut have diverse roles in influencing the host metabolism, including nutrient provision, immune system protection, and gut barrier integrity. The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) from alcohol Non-preferring (NP) rats on alcohol drinking behavior and the gut microbiome of selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) rats. The rats were given choices between 15%, 30% alcohol solutions and water. FMT was conducted using a mixture of powdered feces and chow to facilitate the transfer of the gut microbiota. Fecal samples were collected at various time points, including before, during and after FMT, and were analyzed through sequencing to evaluate the composition and alteration in the gut microbiome over time. The R programming language and KBase were used to analyze the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and to assess the changes in microbial composition and abundance within the gut microbiome of P rats following FMT. The results showed a significant reduction in total alcohol consumption (measured as g/kg/day) in the P rats after FMT, suggesting that the gut microbes influenced drinking behavior. Furthermore, alpha diversity analysis was conducted using the Shannon diversity index (SDI) and observed OTUs. The results revealed that alpha diversity was higher in the pre-FMT samples compared to post-FMT samples, suggesting that FMT contributed to a decrease diversity, more stable and uniform bacterial community composition among the P rats. To assess the dissimilarity between bacterial communities, beta diversity analysis was performed through non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). The NMDS plot which is based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index showed less variation in P rats after FMT. Further analysis demonstrated that the gut microbiota of the P rats through FMT from NP rats led to significant increase in the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and decrease in Lachnoclostridium. Other genera, including Akkermansia, Muribaculum and Dubosiella, also displayed noticeable changes in abundance following FMT. These findings collectively highlight the influences of FMT on both drinking behavior and the gut microbiome composition in P rats, suggesting its potential to serve as a therapeutic approach for treating alcohol use disorder (AUD).