Fig. 6.
Impact of manipulations of the sympathetic nervous system. (A) Impact on community microbiota assessed by NMDS analysis of 16S amplicon illumina sequencing relative abundances from rarefied OTU data (36,904 sequences). Controls = white, 6-OHDA treated = Light grey, Increased systemic sympathetic autonomic tone = dark grey. 6-OHDA samples were significantly different to controls (adonis F.model1,12 = 2.90, p = 0.0012), whereas Increased systemic sympathetic autonomic tone had no impact. Significant correlations were identified with the Phyla of Firmicutes (R2 = 0.60, p = 0.008), Bacteroidetes (R2 = 0.58, p = 0.01) and the Bacteroidetes family S24-7 (R2 = 0.78, p = 0.017). (B) Periodic acid-Schiff-alcian blue (PAS) staining of paraffin-embedded caecum sections is shown in control mice and after 6-OHDA administration or atomoxetine/yohimbine treatment that leads to mild increase in sympathetic tone (Inc. symp). Number of PAS-positive goblet cells is significantly reduced 72 h after 6-OHDA compared to Control (p < 0.001) and Inc. symp. (&p < 0.05) mice. Scale bar: 100 μm. Error bars are standard error of the mean, n = 5–6. (C) Significant shifts (∗) in the proportions of Prevotellaceae as a result of 6-OHDA treatment p < 0.05. Upper and lower limits of box represent 75th and 25th percentile, solid line in median, dotted line mean. Dots represent actual values for each mouse.