Amazing stuff!
"... Using gut microbiota transplants, an international team of researchers has shown memory impairments in humans with Alzheimer's can be passed on to young, healthy rats.
The study also revealed specific bacteria in the gut are directly linked to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients. ...
Gut microbiota from Alzheimer's patients was transplanted into 16 young adult rats whose microbiomes had been depleted by antibiotics for a week. A matching group of 16 rats received gut microbiota from humans in the healthy control group.
At least 10 days after the transplants, the rats were subjected to behavioral tests designed to evaluate memory performance as well as other traits associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Rats that had microbiome transplants from Alzheimer's patients showed impaired memory behaviors, particularly those that rely on a process called adult hippocampal neurogenesis. ..."
"... The study supports the emergence of the gut microbiome as a key target for investigation in Alzheimer’s disease due to its particular susceptibility to lifestyle and environmental influences. ..."
From the abstract:
"... Recent research has positioned the gut microbiota as an important susceptibility factor in Alzheimer’s disease by showing specific alterations in the gut microbiome composition of Alzheimer’s patients and in rodent models. However, it is unknown whether gut microbiota alterations are causal in the manifestation of Alzheimer’s symptoms.
To understand the involvement of Alzheimer’s patient gut microbiota in host physiology and behaviour, we transplanted faecal microbiota from Alzheimer’s patients and age-matched healthy controls into microbiota-depleted young adult rats.
We found impairments in behaviours reliant on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, an essential process for certain memory functions and mood, resulting from Alzheimer’s patient transplants. Notably, the severity of impairments correlated with clinical cognitive scores in donor patients. Discrete changes in the rat caecal and hippocampal metabolome were also evident. ...
Our findings reveal for the first time, that Alzheimer’s symptoms can be transferred to a healthy young organism via the gut microbiota, confirming a causal role of gut microbiota in Alzheimer’s disease, and highlight hippocampal neurogenesis as a converging central cellular process regulating systemic circulatory and gut-mediated factors in Alzheimer’s."
Scientists discover links between Alzheimer's disease and gut microbiota (primary news source) New research has identified links between gut bacteria, inflammation and brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Microbiota from Alzheimer’s patients induce deficits in cognition and hippocampal neurogenesis (open access)
Fig. 2 Adult rats colonized with faecal material from Alzheimer’s patients harbour different bacterial genera and display alterations in intestinal epithelial structure
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