Fig. 1

Schematic timeline of experimental procedure and OttaBac^® effect on anxiety depressive-like behaviors. a Between postnatal day (PD) 2 and PD 14, mice were separated from their mothers for 3 h per day (MS mice). Members of the control group were left undisturbed with their mother (nMS mice). From PD 63 until PD 78, MS and nMS mice were treated with 15-daily administration of OttaBac^® or placebo. At the end of treatment, mice were subjected to behavioral tests and then sacrificed for tissue and blood collection. b–e Graphs showing the increase in time spent in the periphery and the reduction of time spent in the center of the arena, in the MSPLA group compared to the nMSPLA control. c OB treatment increases peripheral crossings, in the nMSOB and MSOB groups, compared to the nMSPLA and MSPLA groups. e Graph indicating the tendency of MSPLA mice towards a decrease of crossing in the center of the arena. Number of animals/group = 8. f Graph indicating that the four groups of mice spend a similar interval of time in the closed arm of elevated plus maze. g Histogram showing the decreased percentage of time spent in the open arm in the MSPLA group compared to their nMSPLA counterpart in the EPM; treatment with OB increases the time spent in the open arms in the MSOB group at physiological level. Number of animals/group = 8. h Histogram indicating the percentage of floating that increases in the MSPLA group compared to their nMSPLA counterpart; treatment with OB significantly decreases the percentage of floating in the MSOB group compared to MSPLA. Number of animals/group = 8. Statistical significance: *p < 0.05. Two-way ANOVA analysis, followed by Bonferroni post hoc tests