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The belly is our second brain – gut bacteria are known to affect how our brains work.
The connection between these two parts of our body is such that the composition of our gut microbiota affects our risk of one day developing Alzheimer’s disease, the leading cause of dementia in the world.
A road that has been considered for several years now: the microbiota of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s is in fact often altered.
To better describe this phenomenon, Swiss and Italian researchers * followed 89 patients aged between 65 and 85 years.
Some suffered from Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative disorders that caused similar memory impairments. Others were spared from these attacks.
Inflammation of the blood under examination
“Using the PET Scan imaging technique, we measured the formation of amyloid plaques that cause neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory markers in the blood, but also proteins produced by intestinal bacteria **,” describes Moira Marizzoni, lead author of the study.
As a result, an imbalance in the gut microbiota favors the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain.
How to explain it? “The proteins produced by certain intestinal bacteria, identified in the blood of patients, could modify the interaction between immunity and the nervous system and thus trigger Alzheimer’s disease”, explains Prof. Giovanni Frisoni, one of the researchers. associated with the study.
“An inflammatory mechanism in the blood is the vector between the microbiota and the brain. “
Good bacteria and probiotics for prevention
According to the scientists, “this study could help develop new preventive strategies based on modulating the microbiota of people at risk”.
One idea, “administer a cocktail of bacteria or probiotics to feed the good bacteria in the gut”.
Small apartment, though. “We must not rejoice too soon,” warns Pr Frisoni. “We have yet to find the precise composition of this cocktail of bacteria. “
Another point, “the neuroprotective effect may only be effective in the initial phase of amyloid plaque formation”. A potential complication as diagnoses often come late.
Note: still incurable, Alzheimer’s disease affects nearly 1 million patients in France.
* Université de Genève and the National Research and Care Center for Alzheimer and Psychiatric Diseases Fatebenefratelli (Brescia), University of Naples and the IRCCS SDN Research Center in Naples
** lipopolysaccharides and short-chain fatty acids
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