Fig. 6

WT mice co-housed with ERβ^−/− mice display aggravated colitis and increased anxiety-like behavior. A Schematic representation and study design of the co-housing and DSS treatment of WT and ERβ^−/− mice. In this experiment, 4-week-old WT and ERβ^−/− male mice were single-housed (SiHo) or co-housed (CoHo) for 6 weeks (42 days). Then, the mice were administered with 2% DSS for 5 days. Some of the mice were sacrificed for tissue collection (brain, colon, and blood) on day 5. The remaining mice were exposed to anxiety-related behavioral tests. The fecal microbiota were collected before and 42 days after exposure to the CoHo experiment. B Principal coordinates analysis of microbial unweighted UniFrac compositional differences among SiHo WT, SiHo ERβ^−/−, CoHo WT and CoHo ERβ^−/− mice before DSS treatment. n = 9/group, except for n = 8 in the CoHo WT group. C Body weight of SiHo WT, SiHo ERβ^−/−, CoHo WT and CoHo ERβ^−/− mice at various times after DSS treatment. n = 9/group. D Colon length of SiHo WT, SiHo ERβ^−/−, CoHo WT and CoHo ERβ^−/− mice on day 5 after DSS treatment. n = 9/group. E Total distance traveled, time spent in the center, and entries into the center in the open field test. n = 9/group. F Percentage of time spent in the open arms and percentage of entries into the open arms in the elevated plus maze test. n = 9/group. G Time in the dark and total transitions in the light-dark box test. n = 9/group. H, I Plasma corticosterone (H) and ACTH (I) levels in SiHo WT, SiHo ERβ^−/−, CoHo WT and CoHo ERβ^−/− mice 5 days after DSS treatment. n = 7/group, except for n = 6 in the CoHo ERβ^−/− group for plasma corticosterone index. J Quantitative analysis and representative images of ErbB4 immunofluorescence staining within the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of SiHo WT, SiHo ERβ^−/−, CoHo WT and CoHo ERβ^−/− mice 5 days after DSS exposure. Scale bar = 50 μm. n = 5/group. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical comparisons were performed by two-way ANOVA. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. EPM, elevated plus maze; OFT, open field test