Gut microbiota profiling in Rattus norvegicus during repeated injections of the dopamine agonist quinpirole. Rattus norvegicus

Chronic treatment of rats with the D2/D3 dopamine agonist quinpirole inducescompulsive checking (proposed as animal model of obsessive-compulsive disorder; OCD)and locomotor sensitization. The mechanisms by which chronic quinpirole producesthose behavioral transformations are not known. Here we examined whether changesin gut microbiota play a role in these behavioral phenomena by monitoring thedevelopment of compulsive checking and sensitization at the same time as measuringthe response of gut microbiota to chronic quinpirole injections.