Biology subjects

Olivier, J. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Olivier, J. D..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

Effects of Perinatal Fluoxetine Exposure on Novelty-induced Social and Non-Social Investigation Behaviors in a Seminatural Environment

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are increasingly prescribed as medication for various affective disorders during pregnancy. SSRIs cross the placenta and affect serotonergic neurotransmission in the fetus, but the neurobehavioral consequences for the offspring remain largely unclear. Recent rodent research has linked perinatal SSRI exposure to alterations in both social and non-social aspects of behavior. However, this research has mainly focused on behavior within simplified environments. The current study investigates the effects of perinatal SSRI exposure on social and non-social investigation behaviors of adult rat offspring upon introduction to a novel seminatural environment with unknown conspecifics. During the perinatal period (gestational day 1 until postnatal day 21), rat dams received daily treatment with either an SSRI (fluoxetine, 10 mg/kg) or vehicle. Adult male and female offspring were observed within the first hour after introduction to a seminatural environment. The results showed that perinatal fluoxetine exposure altered aspects of non-social investigation behaviors, while not altering social investigation behaviors. More specifically both fluoxetine exposed males and females spent more total time on locomotor activity than controls. Furthermore, fluoxetine exposed females spent less time exploring objects and specific elements in the environment. The data suggest that perinatal exposure to SSRIs leads to a quicker, less detailed investigation strategy in novel environments, and that the alteration is mostly pronounced in females.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2020

Female rat sexual behavior is unaffected by perinatal fluoxetine exposure

Serotonin plays an important role in adult female sexual behavior, however little is known about the influence of serotonin during early development on sexual functioning in adulthood. During early development, serotonin acts as neurotrophic factor, while it functions as a modulatory neurotransmitter in adulthood. The occurrence of serotonin release, could thus have different effects on behavioral outcomes, depending on the developmental period in which serotonin is released. Because serotonin is involved in the development of the HPG axis which is required for puberty establishment, serotonin could also alter expression patterns of for instance the estrogen receptor (ER). The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of increased serotonin levels during early development on adult female rat sexual behavior during the full behavioral estrus in a seminatural environment. To do so, rats were perinatally exposed with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine (10 mg/kg FLX) and sexual performance was tested during adulthood. All facets of female sexual behavior between the first and last lordosis (behavioral estrus), and within each copulation bout of the behavioral estrus were analyzed. Besides the length and onset of the behavioral estrus and the sexual behaviors patterns, other social and conflict behavior were also investigated. In addition, we studied the effects of perinatal FLX exposure on ER expression patterns in the medial preoptic nucleus, ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, medial amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the dorsal raphe nucleus. The results showed that perinatal fluoxetine exposure has no effect on adult female sexual behavior. The behavioral estrus of FLX-females had the same length and pattern as CTR-females. In addition, FLX- and CTR-females showed the same amount of paracopulatory behavior and lordosis, both during the full behavioral estrus and the "most active bout". Furthermore, no differences were found in the display of social and conflict behaviors, nor in ER expression patterns in the brain. We conclude that increases in serotonin levels during early development do not have long-term consequences for female sexual behavior in adulthood.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2018

Antidepressant treatment modulates the gut microbiome and metabolome during pregnancy and lactation in rats with a depressive-like phenotype

BackgroundUp to 10% of women use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants during and after pregnancy to manage mood disorders, with possible implications for the developing offspring. The microbiota within the gastrointestinal tract contributes to the regulation of serotonin synthesis. However, the interaction between maternal depression, SSRI use, bacterial community composition, and availability of microbiota-derived metabolites during pregnancy and lactation is not clear and may be consequential to the long-term health of mother and offspring. To determine the impact of SSRI treatment on maternal microbial community dynamics, we conducted these studies in a rat model of maternal vulnerability (MV). All MV females are on a background of genetic vulnerability, where rats exposed to early life stress (sMV) develop a depressive-like phenotype. In adulthood, sMV- and control (cMV) females were treated with either the SSRI fluoxetine (FLX) or the vehicle (Veh) throughout pregnancy and lactation. High-resolution 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and targeted metabolomic analysis were used to assess the fecal microbiome and metabolite availability, respectively.\n\nResultsThe diversity, structure, and composition of the fecal bacterial community differed between pregnancy and lactation. Shifts in microbiota composition were accompanied by changes in fecal metabolite availability. FLX altered some key features of the transition from pregnancy to lactation, but only in females exposed to early life stress (sMV-Veh vs sMV-FLX). For instance, sMV-FLX females had lower fecal availability of the amino acids serine, proline, and aspartic acid than sMV-Veh females. These metabolite concentrations correlated negatively with the relative abundance of bacterial taxa Prevotella, Ruminococcus, and Oscillospira.\n\nConclusionsOur studies demonstrate an important relationship between antidepressant use during the perinatal period and maternal fecal metabolite availability in sMV rats, possibly through parallel changes in the maternal gut microbiome. Since maternal microbial metabolites contribute to health outcomes in offspring, insults to the maternal microbiome by SSRIs might have inter-generational consequences.

microbiology↗