The food we eat might boost beneficial gut bacteria and lower the risk of Alzheimer’s Weyo / Alamy
A supplement that nourishes 鈥済ood鈥 bacteria in the gut seems to protect against an Alzheimer鈥檚-like disease in mice and will soon be tested in a clinical trial.
Growing evidence points to a link between Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and gut health. For example, studies have found that people with the condition tend to have more pro-inflammatory, or 鈥渂ad鈥, bacteria and less anti-inflammatory, or 鈥済ood鈥, bacteria in their guts. They also tend to have a less diverse mix of gut microbes overall.
Chun Chen at Emory University in the US and her colleagues have added to this evidence by showing that mice engineered to have an Alzheimer鈥檚-like disease also have more pro-inflammatory bacteria and less anti-inflammatory bacteria in their guts.
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In addition, they demonstrated that healthy mice housed with those with the Alzheimer鈥檚-like disease were more likely to develop the condition themselves, possibly through exposure to their cagemates鈥 unhealthy gut microbes.
To explore whether improving gut health may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, Chen and her colleagues gave mice a prebiotic supplement called R13 that is designed to promote a healthy mix of gut microbes.
They found that mice treated with R13 were less likely to accumulate a protein called beta-amyloid in their guts. Beta-amyloid builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease 鈥 forming sticky clumps that damage brain networks. Recent research in mice hints that this protein can travel from the gut to the brain and cause Alzheimer鈥檚 symptoms.
R13 has recently been granted approval to be tested in a small clinical trial to see if it helps to slow or prevent Alzheimer鈥檚 disease in people. 鈥淚t sounds really interesting, but we know from the history of Alzheimer鈥檚 drug trials that many promising treatments fail,鈥 says Bryce Vissel at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia.
In the meantime, Chen recommends eating a varied diet to help boost microbial diversity in the gut. 鈥淔or example, the Mediterranean diet has been shown to slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease, which might be partially attributed to maintaining the diversity of gut microbiota,鈥 she says.
Science Advances
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