Beyond the lesion site: minocycline augments inflammation and anxiety-like behavior following SCI in rats through action on the gut microbiota

This study investigates how minocycline, a drug with anti-inflammatory and antibiotic effects, impacts the gut microbiota and immune response after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. The researchers examined how minocycline affects the connection between the gut microbiota and immune system, and whether it influences motor recovery and anxiety-like behavior. The researchers found that minocycline significantly altered the gut microbiota composition and diversity in the rats. This change in the gut was linked to a normalization of SCI-induced suppression of cytokines and chemokines, which are important for immune signaling. The study also observed that minocycline reduced anxiety-like behavior, which is often linked to gut dysbiosis after SCI. The study concludes that minocycline's effects on the gut microbiota occur before its long-term effects on the systemic immune system following SCI. This suggests that the gut microbiota could be a key target for minocycline's therapeutic effects in central nervous system diseases and injuries.

• 1
  Minocycline had a profound acute effect on the microbiota diversity and composition, which was paralleled by the subsequent normalization of spinal cord injury-induced suppression of cytokines/chemokines.
• 2
  Minocycline attenuated spinal cord injury-induced microglial activation, it did not affect the lesion size or promote measurable motor recovery.
• 3
  Minocycline treatment had a long-term (i.e., at least 2 weeks after the offset of treatment) attenuation of anxiety-like behavior in the LDB but did not promote motor recovery following SCI.