Bifidobacterium longum R0175 attenuates post-myocardial infarction depressive-like behaviour in rats

Caspase-3 activation in the limbic system and depressive-like symptoms are observed after an acute myocardial infarction (MI) and studies suggest that inflammation may play a significant role. Combined treatment with the probiotic strains Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus helveticus in rats has been shown to attenuate caspase-3 activation and depressive-like behaviour together with a reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines. The present study was designed to determine the respective contribution of these two strains on caspase-3 activity in the limbic system and on depressive-like behaviour. Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to one of four groups: Vehicle, L. helveticus R0052, B. longum R0175 and L. salivarius HA-118, administered orally for 14 days (10(9)CFU daily) before inducing MI by occlusion of the left anterior descending artery for 40 min followed by 14 days of reperfusion. Animals were then tested for socialisation, passive avoidance and forced swim test to assess depressive-like behaviour. At day 18 the animals were sacrificed; infarct size was estimated, plasma C-reactive protein concentration and brain caspase-3 activity were measured. Results indicated that infarct size did not vary across the different treatments. Rats treated with B. longum spent more time socializing, learned more rapidly the passive avoidance test and spent less time immobile in the forced swim test compared to the vehicle groups. Caspase-3 activity and plasma C-reactive protein concentrations were reduced in the lateral and medial amygdala as well as in the dentate gyrus of B. longum-supplemented animals. The only significant effect in the two groups receiving Lactobacilli compared to vehicle was that rats receiving L. salivarius learned more rapidly in the step-down passive avoidance test. In conclusion, most of the beneficial effects that we previously reported with the combination of two probiotic strains in our experimentation regarding post-myocardial infarction depression are related to Bifidobacterium longum.