Metabolomic links between depression and constipation in rats!

 

Science has been getting a lot of criticism recently, is the earth really round, does this SARS-CoV-2 thing actually exist, etc., What we need is a truly unifying study that everyone around the world can agree is something that needs answered and I'm excited to see that someone finally found the funding to explore: 

When a rat is constipated, is it depressed? When it is depressed, is it sometimes constipated? Does one cause the other? Is there a relationship at all? 

This team used NMR based metabolomics to explore these pivotal questions. 

To induce constipation, rats were fed white vinegar and activated carbon. It is important to note that this did not make them depressed, just constipated. 

For the depression model, the authors used a well-characterized system called the chronic unpredictable mild stress model. Just in case you aren't familiar here is a summary from the methods section of this study and the author's minor alterations: 

Which are, obviously, similar to the normal causes of depression in most mammals. 

What's the overlap? How do the two things relate to one another? Look, I'm not going to ruin this for you. You'll have to check it out for yourself here!