@lowmegatron: Endotoxin causes: 🧵👇• Anxiety...

Endotoxin causes: 🧵👇
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fear
• Anhedonia
• Social isolation
• Decreased empathy
LPS is another name for endotoxin.

Women injected with endotoxin show less empathy for others' pain compared to those given a placebo.

Low-grade inflammation from endotoxin may reduce empathy for others' psychological pain as an adaptive strategy to conserve energy.

Endotoxin causes a reduced ability to experience pleasure in women.

Depressive and anxious behaviours are related to the amount of endotoxin administered to rats.

Endotoxin impairs memory.

"We demonstrated significant endotoxin-induced elevation in the levels of depression and anxiety as well as memory deficits."

Researchers have identified a brain region (the DVC) associated with social withdrawal and depression that is affected by endotoxin.

Bats dosed with endotoxin display social isolation behaviors.

"When isolated, vampire bats produce contact calls that attract highly associated groupmates."

"Sickness behaviour (caused by endotoxin) decreased the number of contact calls produced."

Endotoxin decreases social exploration.

"Social exploration refers to the behavior of an animal actively investigating another animal through actions like sniffing, following, or observing to gather information about identity, status, or social context."

This "sickness behavior" caused by endotoxin can be reduced by vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol).

"Mice injected with endotoxin showed a marked reduction in social behavior at 4h."

"Sickness behavior induced by the lowest dose of endotoxin was blocked by alpha-tocopherol."

COX enzymes convert PUFAs (fats) like arachidonic acid into inflammatory molecules such as prostaglandins.

"Endotoxin-induced depressive and anxious-like behavior, and treatment with COX inhibitors was able to reverse most of the behavioral changes."

COX inhibition and vitamin E improve endotoxin-induced mood and behavior issues largely by preventing the creation of inflammatory PUFA byproducts.

The effects of endotoxin on behavior are observable transgenerationally.

"Adult offspring from the maternal inflammation (endotoxin) group showed increased anxiety, as indicated by the elevated plus maze."
...

"Social interaction among offspring from the test groups was examined when two unfamiliar mice from different litters were introduced into a new home-cage. Offspring from the maternal inflammation group (endotoxin) showed reduced activity, indicating increased fear."

However, animal experiments show that things can rapidly reverse when endotoxin levels drop.

"Endotoxin produced a transient suppression of social interaction that was no longer evident 24 h after endotoxin."