Commensal bacteria exacerbate seizure-like phenotypes in Drosophila voltage-gated sodium channel mutants

Mutations in voltage-gated sodium (Na_v) channels, which are essential for generating and propagating action potentials, can lead to serious neurological disorders, such as epilepsy. However, disease-causing Na_v channel mutations do not always result in severe symptoms, suggesting that the disease conditions are significantly affected by other genetic factors and various environmental exposures, collectively known as the “exposome”. Notably, recent research emphasizes the pivotal role of commensal bacteria in neural development and function. Although these bacteria typically benefit the nervous system under normal conditions, their impact during pathological states remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the influence of commensal microbes on seizure-like phenotypes exhibited by para^Shu—a gain-of-function mutant of the Drosophila Na_v channel gene, paralytic. Remarkably, the elimination of endogenous bacteria considerably ameliorated neurological impairments in para^Shu. Consistently, reintroducing bacteria, specifically from the Lactobacillus or Acetobacter genera, heightened the phenotypic severity in the bacteria-deprived mutants. These findings posit that particular native bacteria contribute to the severity of seizure-like phenotypes in para^Shu. We further uncovered that treating para^Shu with antibiotics boosted Nrf2 signaling in the gut, and that global Nrf2 activation mirrored the effects of removing bacteria from para^Shu. This raises the possibility that the removal of commensal bacteria suppresses the seizure-like manifestations through augmented antioxidant responses. Since bacterial removal during development was critical for suppression of adult para^Shu phenotypes, our research sets the stage for subsequent studies, aiming to elucidate the interplay between commensal bacteria and the developing nervous system in conditions predisposed to the hyperexcitable nervous system.