Intestinal Epithelial Toll-like Receptor 4 Deficiency Modifies the Response to the Activity-Based Anorexia Model in a Sex-Dependent Manner: A Preliminary Study.

The role of microbiota in eating disorders has recently emerged. Previous data reported that lipopolysaccharides induce anorexia and a decrease of body weight through the activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). In the activity-based anorexia (ABA) mouse model, an increase of TLR4 expression in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) has been described. We thus aimed to characterize the role of TLR4 in IEC in the ABA model in male and female mice. For this purpose, Vill-Cre ERT2 -TLR4 LoxP, which are depleted for TLR4 in IEC in response to 4-OH tamoxifen, were submitted (ABA) or not (CT) to the ABA procedure that combined free access to a running wheel and progressive time-limited access to food. We thus compared CT and ABA TLR4 IEC-/- mice to CT and ABA TLR4 IEC+/+ mice. In response to the ABA model, TLR4 IEC+/+ male and female mice exhibited a body weight loss associated to a decrease of lean mass. In TLR4 IEC-/- male mice, body weight loss was delayed and less pronounced compared to TLR4 IEC+/+ male mice. We did not observe a difference of body weight loss in female mice. The body composition remained unchanged between TLR4 IEC-/- and TLR4 IEC+/+ mice in both sexes. In both sexes, ABA TLR4 IEC+/+ mice exhibited an increase of food-anticipatory activity, as well as an increase of immobility time during the open field test. However, female TLR4 IEC-/- mice showed a decrease of the time spent at the centre and an increase of the time spent at the periphery of the open field area, whereas we did not observe differences in the male mice. In conclusion, the invalidation of TLR4 in IEC modified the response to the ABA model in a sex-dependent manner. Further studies should decipher the underlying mechanisms.