16S rRNA sequencing of R6/1 mice submitted to a protocol of environmental enrichment and exercise

Gut dysbiosis in Huntington's disease (HD) mice has been recently reported using microbiome profiling in R6/1 HD mice and replicated in clinical HD. In HD mice, environmental enrichment (EE) and exercise (EX) have previously demonstrated therapeutically impact on the brain, and associated symptoms, of these HD mice. We hypothesize that these interventions modulate the gut microbiome, configuring one of the mechanisms mediating their potential effects observed in HD. We exposed R6/1 mice to a protocol of either EE or EX, relative to standard-housed (SH) control conditions, before the onset of gut dysbiosis and motor deficits, characterizing gut functioning and gut microbiome profiling using 16S rRNA sequencing.