Gut microbiota is involved in the antidepressant effects of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in chronic social defeat stress mouse model

Rationale Growing evidence supports the role of microbiota in regulating gut-brain interactions and, thus, contributing to the pathogenesis of depression and the antidepressant actions. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs), as important members of the stem cell family, were demonstrated to alleviate depression behaviors. However, the role of gut microbiota in ADSCs alleviating depression in chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) model is unknown. Objectives To examine the effects of ADSCs on depression symptoms and detect the changes in the composition of gut microbiota. Results We found that ADSCs administration significantly ameliorated CSDS-induced depression behaviors, which was accompanied by alteration in the gut microbiota. The principal co-ordinates analysis (PCoA) results showed that there was a significant difference between the gut microbiota among the groups. Remarkably, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves revealed that order Micrococcales, order Rhizobiales and species Bacteroides acidifaciens are potentially important biomarkers for the antidepressant effects of ADSCs in CSDS model. Conclusions ADSCs are effective in treating depression behaviors in CSDS model, which might be partly due to the regulation of abnormal composition of gut microbiota. Thus, ADSCs offer a promising therapeutic strategy for treating depression in patients.