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Probiotics and Cognitive Decline Gut fitness is the key to healthy aging of the brain
Summary: Probiotics may be essential in halting the aging-related loss in cognitive function. Researchers saw improved cognitive performance and gut microbiota changes after giving patients with mild cognitive impairment Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG for three months.
According to the study, improving the gut flora may be a clever way to improve cognitive performance in people with mild cognitive impairment. These results, if confirmed, could fundamentally alter gut microbiome-focused preventive efforts for cognitive health.
Key Facts:
- Three months of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG probiotic administration to participants with mild cognitive impairment resulted in better cognitive scores.
- Prevotella microorganisms were found to be more prevalent in the study’s subjects who had mild cognitive impairment. Following probiotic consumption, Prevotella abundance decreased, and this was associated with an improvement in cognition.
- The study creates new possibilities for therapies that target the gut microbiome to promote cognitive health and stop cognitive aging.
Source: American Society for Nutrition
Findings from a new study suggest that taking a probiotic could help prevent the decline in memory and thinking that can accompany aging.
Probiotics and Cognitive Decline: Gut fitness is the key to healthy aging of the brain…
This study may pave the path for brand-new, non-invasive therapies that use the gut flora to slow cognitive aging in older people.
Researchers discovered that probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) treatment for three months improved the cognitive scores of study participants with mild cognitive impairment. Changes in their gut microbiota were also linked to this improvement in cognition.
“The implication of this finding is quite exciting, as it means that modifying the gut microbiome through probiotics could potentially be a strategy to improve cognitive performance, particularly in individuals with mild cognitive impairment,” said Mashael Aljumaah, a doctoral candidate in microbiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.
This “adds a new layer to our understanding of the microbiome brain-gut connection and opens up new pathways for preventing cognitive decline associated with aging,” says the author.
Aljumaah, who is also connected to King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, will present the research at NUTRITION 2023, the American Society for Nutrition’s flagship meeting held in Boston from July 22 to 25.
According to Aljumaah, “Many studies concentrate on severe forms of cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia, but these conditions are more advanced, making them significantly harder to reverse or treat.”
“By contrast, our attention was on moderate cognitive impairment, which can result in issues with judgment, language, or memory. The progression to more severe forms of dementia could be slowed down or prevented with interventions at this stage of cognitive decline.
169 volunteers, aged 52 to 75, who were either neurologically healthy or had minor cognitive impairment, were split into two groups for the study.
In a three-month, double-blind, randomized clinical trial, participants in each group either got the LGG probiotic or a placebo. The LGG probiotic was chosen by the researchers because earlier studies had suggested that it might have positive benefits in animal models.
The researchers identified and compared bacteria present in feces samples using 16S rRNA gene sequencing in order to look into the gut microbiomes of the study participants. Whole genome sequencing was then employed to shed light on the functional roles played by the discovered microorganisms.
Prevotella-related bacteria were found in greater relative abundance in persons with mild cognitive impairment than in participants without cognitive impairment, according to the findings.
This implies that the composition of the gut microbiota may act as an early warning sign of mild cognitive impairment, providing an opportunity for earlier cognitive decline prevention measures.
The relative abundance of Prevotella dropped in research individuals who had mild cognitive impairment and were given the LGG probiotics. Improvements in cognitive scores followed this adjustment, indicating that altering the gut flora may help older persons’ cognitive health.
“We’re exploring a new frontier in preventive strategies in cognitive health by identifying specific shifts in the gut microbiome associated with mild cognitive impairment,” said Aljumaah. If these results are confirmed in additional research, it may be possible to use novel tactics that target the gut microbiome to enhance cognitive health.
The current focus of study is to identify the precise processes by which bacteria like Prevotella affect the stomach in a way that enhances brain health. They are specifically investigating how specific chemicals made by these bacteria alter how neuroprotective hormones that can pass the blood-brain barrier function.
About this cognition and aging research news
Author: Nancy Lamontagne
Source: American Society for Nutrition
Contact: Nancy Lamontagne – American Society for Nutrition
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: The findings will be presented at NUTRITION 2023
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