From Gut to Brain: Glyphosate and Triclosan Impair Microbiome Composition, Neuroactive Metabolites, and Cognitive and Ecological Fitness in Daphnia magna

TL;DR

This study shows that glyphosate and triclosan disrupt the gut microbiome in Daphnia magna, leading to changes in brain chemicals, behavior, and reproduction.

Contribution

The study reveals a direct link between gut microbiome dysbiosis and cognitive and reproductive effects in Daphnia magna due to glyphosate and triclosan.

Findings

Glyphosate and triclosan altered neurotransmitter levels and caused anxiogenic behavior in Daphnia magna.

Changes in gut microbiome were linked to metabolic pathways affecting serotonin levels.

Reproductive traits were inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner.

Abstract

Gut microbiome dysbiosis is a major off-target effect
of many pharmaceuticals,
personal care products (PPCP), and plant protection products (PPP).
This study aims to characterize these effects for two compounds, glyphosate
(a PPP) and triclosan (a PPCP), in Daphnia magna juveniles and to trace the downstream consequences for gut- and
brain-associated metabolite levels, reproductive performance, and
behavior. Both compounds altered levels of neurotransmitters and related
metabolites in both head and gut at the ppb–ppt dose range,
promoting anxiogenic behavior and inhibiting reproductive traits in
a concentration-related manner. These effects occurred concomitantly
with alterations in the gut microbiome, analyzed by 16S rDNA sequencing.
Correlation analyses between the observed metabolic, reproductive,
and behavioral effects and the changes in the metabolic pathway prediction
for the treated gut microbiomes revealed an enrichment in pathways
related to the biosynthesis of vitamins, of essential fatty acids,
and production of short chain fatty acids, which are known to affect
systemic serotonin levels. The results suggest a direct link between
gut microbiome dysbiosis and cognitive and reproduction effects in D. magna, with implications for the environmental
and human health hazard assessment of these and other substances with
broad antimicrobial spectra.

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