Snails go on a fast when acetylsalicylic acid comes along with heat stress: A possible effect of HSPs and serotonergic system on the feeding response

A novel food followed by sickness, causes a taste-specific conditioned aversion, known as the 'Garcia effect'. We recently found that both a heat shock stressor (30 degrees C for 1 h - HS) and the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can be used as 'sickness-inducing' stimuli to induce a Garcia effect in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Additionally, if snails are exposed to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) present in aspirin tablets before the LPS injection, the formation of the Garcia effect is prevented. Here, we hypothesized that exposing snails to crushed aspirin before the HS (ASA-HS) would prevent the HS-induced 'sickness state' and - therefore -the Garcia effect. Unexpectantly, the ASA-HS procedure induced a generalized and long-lasting feeding suppression. We thus investigate the molecular effects underlying this phenomenon. While the exposure to the HS alone resulted in a significant upregulation of the mRNA levels of the Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP 70) in snails' central ring ganglia, the ASA-HS procedure induced an even greater upregulation of HSP70, suggesting that the ASA-HS combination causes a severe stress response that inhibits feeding. Additionally, we found that the ASA-HS procedure induced a significant downregulation of the mRNA levels of genes involved with the serotoninergic system which regulates feeding in snails. Finally, the ASA-HS procedure prevented HS-induced upregulation of the mRNA levels of key neuroplasticity genes. Our study indicates that two sickness-inducing stimuli can have different physiological responses even if behavioral outcomes are similar under some learning contexts.

Automated summary

This study found that exposure to heat shock stressors and bacterial lipopolysaccharide can induce the Garcia effect in pond snails. Additionally, aspirin can prevent the formation of the Garcia effect. However, unexpectedly, exposure to crushed aspirin and heat shock stressors together leads to long-lasting feeding suppression and molecular changes in the snails' serotoninergic system and neuroplasticity genes.