深夜亚洲福利久久

Gut health plays a role in Alzheimer鈥檚 development, new study says

9 Mar 2022

Conference presentation: Alzheimer鈥檚 Research UK 2022 Conference. New research, which hasn鈥檛 yet been peer reviewed, presented at the Alzheimer鈥檚 Research UK Conference 2022 at the Brighton Centre, and profiled in the New York Post highlights newly identified links between gut bacteria, inflammation and brain changes associated with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

In research conducted by Dr. Stefanie Grabrucker, a postdoctoral researcher at APC Microbiome Ireland, 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork led by Professor Yvonne Nolan, stool samples from people with and without Alzheimer鈥檚 disease (recruited through collaboration with Dr. Annamaria Cattaneo, IRCCS, Italy) were transplanted into rats.

Professor Yvonne Nolan, who is leading this collaborative Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (CoEN) project with partners in King鈥檚 College London and IRCCS, Italy and who presented the work said:鈥淲e found that rats with gut bacteria from people with Alzheimer鈥檚 performed worse in memory tests, didn鈥檛 grow as many new nerve cells in areas of the brain associated with memory and had higher levels of inflammation in the brain.鈥�

"Our findings suggest that symptoms of Alzheimer鈥檚 may, in part, be caused by abnormalities in the gastrointestinal tract. While it is currently proving difficult to directly tackle Alzheimer鈥檚 processes in the brain, the gut potentially represents an alternative target that may be easier to influence with drugs or diet changes.鈥�

Alzheimer鈥檚 is the leading cause of dementia. With one in three people born today likely to develop dementia in their lifetime, scientists are exploring potential links that could help uncover approaches for new treatments. This includes work to better understand the health of our gut and our brain.

The gut is host to a community of bacteria called the intestinal microbiome. The precise make-up of the microbiome differs between individuals, in both the types and quantities of bacteria present. This microbial composition can have far-reaching effects on other parts of our body and emerging evidence has suggested a relationship with brain health and the risk of diseases like Alzheimer鈥檚.

The work is profiled in the New York Post: 

The research described here was funded as part of the Network of Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN)  coordinated by Professor Yvonne Nolan on 鈥淕ut microbes, Neuroinflammation and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease: determining the immunoregulatory role of gut microbiota on brain and behaviour鈥�. Principal Investigators are Yvonne Nolan and Cora O鈥橬eill (Republic of Ireland, funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)), Annamaria Cattaneo (Italy, funded by Ministero della Salute (MDS)), Sandrine Thuret (UK, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC))

Photograph B.Riedewald