Background: Exposure to early life stress (ELS) and maternal consumption of a high-fat and high-sugar diet can have detrimental effects on adult emotional responses. The microbiota and gut-brain axis have been proposed as playing a mediating role in the regulation of stress and emotion.
Method: Young male rats were exposed to maternal separation (MS) together with maternal and postnatal consumption of a HFS diet (45%kcal saturated fat, 17%kcal sucrose). Anxiety-like behaviour was evaluated using an elevated zero-maze, and depression-like behaviour using the forced-swim and sucrose preference tests. Microbiota composition and derived metabolites were also analysed in faecal samples using a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometry.
Results: Combined exposure to MS and lifelong consumption of a HFS diet partially reversed the abnormal anxiety-like and depression-like behaviours in early adulthood caused by each adverse factor alone. Diet composition had a greater negative impact than ELS exposure on the gut microbiota, and both environmental factors interacted with microbiota composition partially counteracting their negative effects.
Conclusions: The effects of exposure to early life stress and a HFS diet independently are partially reversed after the combination of both factors. These results suggest that ELS and diet interact to modulate adult stress response and gut microbiota.