Figure 1

The effects of antibiotic treatment alone or in combination with Aβ1–42 treatment on anxiety-related behaviour in male C57BL6 mice. To assess anxiety-related behaviour (A inner zone time; B inner zone entries) and locomotor activity (C rearing; D total line crossings), animals were subjected to the open field test. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 10). Antibiotic treatment significantly increased the inner zone time [p = 0.022], but it did not affect the other parameters [p > 0.05] compared to the water + vehicle mice. On the other hand, Aβ 1–42 administration in water-treated mice significantly decreased the inner zone time [p = 0.024] and entries [p = 0.003] compared to the water + vehicle group. However, Aβ 1–42 injection could not affect the inner zone time and entries [p > 0.05] in antibiotic-treated mice compared to the water + vehicle or antibiotics + vehicle groups. Besides, significant differences in all behavioural parameters in the open field test were not observed between antibiotics + Aβ 1–42 mice and water + vehicle group [p > 0.05]. Moreover, there are significant differences in the inner zone time [p = 0.009] and entries [p = 0.017] between water + Aβ 1–42-treated mice and antibiotics + Aβ 1–42-treated animals. Furthermore, both antibiotic and Aβ 1–42 treatments did not change [p > 0.05] the rearing and the total line crossings in the open field test.