Peripartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) affect 15–20% of peripartum women and are well known to disrupt infant caregiving. A recent study in humans reported that anxiety and depressive symptoms were alleviated by peripartum treatment with the probiotic, HN001 The current study determined the effects of chronic HN001 (HN001) treatment on postpartum affective and caregiving behaviors in a laboratory rodent model. Female rats were given probiotic overnight in their drinking water, or untreated water, from the first day of pregnancy through postpartum day 10. To determine whether the HN001 effects were influenced by a background of stress, half the females underwent chronic variable pregnancy stress and the other half remained undisturbed. The results revealed that, even without pregnancy stress, HN001 reduced postpartum anxiety-related behavior, increased variability in behavioral fragmentation when dams interacted with pups, increased time away from pups, and decreased prefrontal cortex norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT). Probiotic plus stress consistently reduced the latency to float in the forced swim test, increased DA and 5-HT turnovers in the prefrontal cortex, increased hippocampal NE, and reduced hypothalamic DA. Fecal microbe alpha and beta diversities were lower postpartum than prepartum, which was prevented by the probiotic treatment and/or stress. Across the entire sample lower postpartum anxiety behavior was associated with lower fecal This study reveals novel information about how influences postpartum behavior and microbiota-gut-brain physiology in female laboratory rats, with implications for probiotic supplement use by pregnant and postpartum women.

中文翻译：

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母体益生菌鼠李糖乳杆菌 HN001 治疗可改变产后焦虑、皮质单胺和肠道微生物组

围产期情绪和焦虑障碍 (PMAD) 影响 15-20% 的围产期妇女，并且众所周知会扰乱婴儿护理。最近的一项人类研究报告称，围产期使用益生菌 HN001 治疗可减轻焦虑和抑郁症状。当前的研究确定了长期 HN001 (HN001) 治疗对实验室啮齿动物模型中产后情感和护理行为的影响。从怀孕第一天到产后第 10 天，雌性大鼠在饮用水或未经处理的水中过夜服用益生菌。为了确定 HN001 的效果是否受到压力背景的影响，一半雌性经历了慢性可变妊娠压力，并且另一半则保持原状。结果显示，即使没有怀孕压力，HN001 也能减少产后焦虑相关行为，增加母鼠与幼崽互动时行为碎片化的变异性，增加远离幼崽的时间，并降低前额皮质去甲肾上腺素 (NE)、多巴胺 (DA) 和血清素(5-HT)。益生菌加压力持续降低了强迫游泳测试中的漂浮潜伏期，增加了前额皮质中的 DA 和 5-HT 周转率，增加了海马 NE，并减少了下丘脑 DA。产后粪便微生物α和β多样性低于产前，这是通过益生菌治疗和/或应激来预防的。在整个样本中，较低的产后焦虑行为与较低的粪便量相关。这项研究揭示了如何影响雌性实验大鼠的产后行为和微生物群-肠-脑生理学的新信息，对孕妇和产后妇女使用益生菌补充剂具有影响。