The combination of living <i>Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus</i> , and <i>Streptococcus</i> improves social ranking and relieves anxiety‐like behaviors in competitive mice in a social dominance tube test
Jianping Xie, Yun Yuan, Heng Wee Tan, Yufan Bai, Qingyue Zheng, Lin Mao, Yu‐Shan Wu, Ling Wang, Wenhui Da, Qingyan Ye, Suting Zhang, Jing Wang, Wenyao Yin, Yujing Bian, Wenjie Ma, Lanchun Zhang, Rongping Zhang, Haofei Yu, Ying Guo
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Social rank has a profound influence on the behavior and health of humans and animals. METHODS: To explore the effect of a combination of living Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus (CLB) on anxiety- and depression-like behaviors and social rank, mice were subjected to a social dominance tube test (SDTT). The behaviors, rank, gut microbiota, and expression of inflammatory cytokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus were measured. RESULTS: The results indicated that CLB improved the SDTT ranking score of the losers and alleviated anxiety-like behaviors of the winners. CLB decreased the level of Desulfovibrio and augmented the level of Mollicutes in the feces, increased BDNF content, and reduced the level of tumor necrosis factor-α in the hippocampus. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that CLB may be used for the treatment of anxiety and improvement of the rank score via regulation of gut microbiota and anti-inflammatory effects.