Colonic butyrate administration modulates fear memory but not the acute stress response in men: A randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced in the colon following bacterial fermentation of dietary fiber and are important microbiota-gut-brain messengers. However, their mechanistic role in modulating psychobiological processes that underlie the development of stress- and anxiety-related disorders is scarcely studied in humans. We have previously shown that colonic administration of a SCFA mixture (acetate, propionate, butyrate) lowers the cortisol response to stress in healthy participants, but does not impact fear conditioning and extinction. To disentangle the effects of the three main SCFAs, we examined whether butyrate alone would similarly modulate these psychobiological responses in a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study in 71 healthy male participants (M_{age =} 25.2, M_{BMI =} 22.7 [n = 35 butyrate group, n = 36 placebo group]). Colon-delivery capsules with pH-dependent coating were used to administer 5.28 g of butyrate or placebo daily for one week. Butyrate administration significantly increased serum butyrate concentrations without modulating serum acetate or propionate, nor fecal SCFAs. Butyrate administration also significantly modulated fear memory at the subjective but not physiological levels. Contrary to expectations, no changes in subjective nor neuroendocrine responses to acute stress were evident between the treatment groups from pre- to post-intervention. We conclude that colonic butyrate administration alone is not sufficient to modulate psychobiological stress responses, unlike administration of a SCFA mixture. The influence of colonic and systemic butyrate on fear memory and the persistence of fear extinction should be further systematically investigated in future studies.

Keywords: Butyrate; Cortisol; Fear conditioning; Gut-brain axis; Stress.