Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) affects methylone induced tolerance in rats

The role of the microbiome-gut-brain axis in modulating body temperatures has been well document over the past few years. However, its role of regulating body temperatures in response to drug induction remains unexplored. Here we assessed the functions of gut microbiota in moderating thermogenic responses to the drug methylone, a potent psychostimulant. For this study, male Sprague Dawley rats were either untreated or treated with a non-lethal dose of methylone for a period of 4 weeks. Following the development of tolerance in methylone treated rats, animals were subjected to fecal microbial transplantation. Daily fecal droppings were collected and cross-fed across animals of both groups. We traced changes in the gut microbiome performed via 16S amplicon sequencing (V3-V4 region). The analysis revealed alterations of relative abundances of species belonging to the classes Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Erysipelotrichia post-FMT. This data indicated the potential role of these classes in modulating methylone induced thermogenic responses. We measured changes in body temperatures, plasma norepinephrine levels and expression levels of genes coordinating thermogenesis throughout the course of the study.