'A' increasing body of research indicates that the tens of billions of microbes that typically live in our intestines, or the so-called gut microbiome, have a profound impact on how our bodies function, including the brain.
Members of this microbial community aid in the digestion of food, the production of vitamins, the prevention of the growth of harmful bacteria, and immune system regulation, among other things. The gut microbiome also has a substantial impact on the health of our brains, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Tens of billions of microbes commonly found in our intestines, or the so-called gut microbiome, are thought to have a substantial impact on how our bodies function, including the brain.
Among other things, members of this microbial community aid in food digestion, vitamin production, preventing the growth of harmful bacteria, and immune system regulation. A recent study suggests that the gut microbiome also significantly affects the health of our brains, claim researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The study in mice found that the gut bacteria, in part via creating chemicals like short-chain fatty acids, affects the behavior of immune cells throughout the body, including those in the brain that can damage brain tissue and hasten neurodegeneration in disorders like Alzheimer's disease. According to the study, which was published on January 13 in the journal Science, changing the gut flora may be used to prevent or treat neurodegeneration.
There is growing proof that the gut microbiomes of people with Alzheimer's disease and healthy people can differ. To what extent altering the microbiome would affect the disease's development is unknown, as is whether these changes are the disease's cause, effect, or both.
In order to evaluate whether the gut microbiome might be acting as a causal factor, the researchers altered the gut microbiomes of mice predisposed to brain damage and cognitive impairment comparable to that seen in Alzheimer's disease. The mice were genetically modified to have a mutant form of the tau protein, which builds up and harms neurons by the time the mice are 9 months old. This form of tau is found in the human brain.
The human APSE gene variant, a substantial genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's, was also present in these individuals. One copy of the APOE4 mutation increases the risk of developing the disease by three to four times compared to the more common APOE3 variant.
When kept in sterile conditions from birth, these genetically altered mice did not acquire gut microbiomes, and at 40 weeks of age, their brains showed far less damage than those of mice with typical mouse microbiomes.
“This study may offer important insights into how the microbiome influences tau-mediated neurodegeneration, and suggests therapies that alter gut microbes may affect the onset or progression of neurodegenerative disorders,” said Linda McGovern, PhD, program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIN DS), which provided some of the funding for the study.
The results point to a novel strategy for treating and preventing neurodegenerative disorders that involves altering the gut microbiome through the use of antibiotics, probiotics, special diets, or other strategies.
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