Examining the brain’s response to intestinal permeability and inflammation in the dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis model.

C57Bl6/J mice were treated with 2.5% DSS, assigned to various treatment schedules to create a time-series as follows: untreated controls, 5d DSS, 7d DSS, 7d DSS + 2d recovery, 7d DSS + 5d recovery, 7d DSS + 7d recovery, and 7d DSS + 14d recovery. After their respective schedules, mice were euthanized via rapid decapitation and tissues were harvested. Distal and proximal segments of the colon were taken to assess molecular processes associated with colitis and evaluate the reproducibility of these systems. From the brain, cortex, hippocampus, ventral midbrain, and striatum were taken to examine both global and regionally-specific transcriptomic perturbances that emerge in response to gut leakiness. All tissues were assayed with high-throughput RNA sequencing.