Fig. 6

Acetate increases hippocampal synaptophysin level via the vagus nerve stimulation. a The effect of exogenous acetate supplement on the relative SYP mRNA expression level in the hippocampus of vancomycin-treated T1D (T1DV) mice after vagal inhibition by atropine or vagotomy. b, c Relative SYP protein level detected by Western blotting and the corresponding quantitative data in the hippocampus of acetate-fed T1DV mice after vagal inhibition by atropine or vagotomy (n=3 mice per group). d, e The changes in acetate and the relative SYP mRNA expression level in the hippocampus of T1DV mice after intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of exogenous acetate. f Long-term acetate deficiency due to depletion of acetate-producing bacteria reduced hippocampal SYP level and accelerated cognitive impairment in T1D mice, which might be mediated by vagus nerve stimulation. Data are presented as mean±s.d. of n=6 mice per group. The difference between two groups was determined by two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test with Bonferroni correction. The differences among four groups were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test, and data with different lowercase codes are significantly different (P < 0.05)