Gut microbes and brain health

I was reading about the benefits of fermented foods and came across several articles like this one that talk about a connection between gut microbes and the brain. There are several like this from John Hopkins and Harvard just to name a couple that have shown people with certain brain disorder share similar gut bacteria. It’s long and a slow read but an interesting one.

The Gut Microbiome and Brain Health

October 04, 2018

Bacteroides, Bifidobacteirum, Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcus– these are the names of some of the 100 trillion bacteria who are living and working in your gut. These microscopic critters, collectively known as the microbiome, help our body to digest food, process nutrients, make vitamins B and K, and produce immune molecules that fight inflammation and heal wounds. The most impressive role of this busy workforce may be, surprisingly, in the brain.

While the digestive tract and the brain feel far apart in your body, they are actually connected via a 24/7 direct line of biochemical communication, set up by special nerve cells and immune pathways. It’s called the gut-brain axis. Down in the gut, bacteria make neuroactive compounds, including 90% of our neurotransmitter serotonin, which regulate our emotions. In turn, the brain can send signals to the gastrointestinal system, for example, to stimulate or suppress digestion.

A healthy microbiome is a diverse microbiome. A rich community of varied species protects against one dominating and causing trouble in our gut and beyond. Shifts in the composition or function of the microbiome have been implicated in inflammatory bowel disease, autism, and blood cancers. Researchers are now discovering that a disrupted microbiome, in certain contexts, may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions that cause dementia.

“The role of the microbiome in health and disease is an exciting area at the forefront of science, but the field is in its infancy,” says Dr. William Depaolo, a UW Medicine gastroenterologist and director of the UW Center for Microbiome Sciences & Therapeutics. “I think about the microbiome like a biologist thinks about the deep sea. We know there’s something down there, and we finally have the technology to help us see who’s actually there and how they are influencing our bodies and brains.”

Advanced tools of ‘multi-omics’ technology allow researchers to identify species in the human gut and analyze the bacterial genes and protein products that affect our brain health. Recently, NIH-funded research conducted at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center examined the microbiomes of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The team, led by Barbara Bendlin, PhD, and Frederico Rey, PhD, collected stool samples from participants and used genetic sequencing technology to identify the bacterial species present, and assess the microbial richness and diversity.

They found that people living with Alzheimer’s disease have a unique, and less diverse, community of gut microorganisms than their healthy counterparts. Specifically, the microbiomes of people with Alzheimer’s disease showed specific increases and decreases in common gut bacteria, especially decreases in Bifidobacterium, an important inhabitant of the healthy human gut. They also linked the abnormal levels of these microbe families to the amount of Alzheimer’s disease proteins in the participants’ spinal fluid.

The authors suggest that the unique microbiome of people with Alzheimer’s disease could be contributing to the progression of their disease, through the gut-brain axis. Such findings in human and mouse models point to the tantalizing prospect that restoring healthy gut bacterial composition could prevent or slow the development of Alzheimer’s in at-risk populations.

The microbiome field is optimistic about this therapeutic approach. “We know that diet can profoundly affect the microbiome,” says Dr. Depaolo, whose lab studies the influence of the microbiome on health and many diseases.“We know that bacterial cells are more sensitive to drugs than human cells, so we can target them without hitting human cells. So, there is a lot of excitement here in using multi-omics technology to identify microorganisms that we could promote in specific people or find strategies to manipulate the microbiome.”

But, as with all quests to create precise, targeted therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease, it all comes down to genetics.

It’s in the Genes

The composition of every person’s microbiome is unique as a fingerprint, shaped by early life, diet, and environmental exposures over time. But it is our genetic background that influences how bacteria actually function in the human gut. What’s more, bacteria themselves express different genes and make proteins that may predispose certain individuals to gut inflammation or other conditions.

In one striking example, recent NIH-funded research conducted by researchers in the NeuroGenetics Research Consortium suggested that Corynebacterium helps cause Parkinson’s disease, but only in people with a specific genotype.

The study focused on the gene SNCA rs356219, a known genetic risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. However, it’s not strong enough to cause the disease by itself. Scientists have long suspected a trigger. In the study led by Dr. Zachary Wallen, PhD, and Dr. Haydeh Payami, PhD, of the University of Alabama, researchers took blood samples from 197 middle-aged patients with Parkinson’s disease and 115 age-matched controls and determined the “genotype,” or version, of SNCA rs356219. (Human beings have one of three genotypes of SNCA rs356219: AA, GA, or GG.)

They also extracted DNA from stool samples to see what bacteria were in their guts and then looked for interactions between the SNCA rs356219 genotype, gut microbiome, and Parkinson’s disease risk.

The team found that Corynebacterium was most abundant in people with the GG genotype. Every person who had the GG genotype and Corynebacterium in the gut also had Parkinson’s disease. Could there be something about the GG genotype that affects or jumpstarts this bacterium’s production of disease proteins in the gut?, the researchers ask.

Corynebacterium is a common bacterium on human skin, and researchers don’t know how enters it the gut, why some people have more than others, or if it could be a target for an antibiotic. The findings were presented at the 142nd Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association.

While this study needs to be replicated in a larger population, the findings show how important it will be to consider a patient’s genetic factors in microbiome research. “The issue of genetic influence cannot be ignored in this field,” says Dr. Depaolo. “We don’t yet know how genetics influence the microbiome, or how genes in bacteria are regulated. Before we start giving bacteria, antibiotics, or fecal transplants to people, we need to address the very basic question of how different genetic backgrounds affect the microbiome.”

How About Probiotics?

While we can’t change our genes, we can modify our exposures and diet to nurture our microbiome as we age. General consensus holds that consuming fermented foods have some benefit to gut health, especially for those on anti-biotic medications. These are foods full of healthy ‘probiotic’ bacteria, such as yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, and kimchi. Common foods that feed the healthy gut bacteria include garlic, onions, Jerusalem artichoke, leeks, asparagus, bananas, barley, oats, apples, cocoa, wheat bran, burdock root, and flaxseeds, to name a few.

Common foods that feed the healthy gut bacteria include garlic, onions, Jerusalem artichoke, leeks, asparagus, bananas, barley, oats, apples, cocoa, wheat bran, burdock root, and flaxseeds.

“To get your microbiome into the best composition you can, I think it’s reasonable to make sure to get enough fiber in your diet,” says Dr. Angela Hanson, MD, research scientist and geriatrician at UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center. “Consider eating yogurt with active cultures and talking to your doctor about probiotic supplements if you need to be on antibiotics for an infection.”

There’s a whole list of questions to answer before diet advice can get more specific than yogurt and kale: How does diet impact the microbiome long-term? How long does it take to permanently alter the gut microbiome? Can friendly bacteria in fermented foods actually establish long-lasting colonies in the gut? There has been a lack of human studies on the long-term health effects of fermented foods or probiotic supplements, which do not have FDA approval.

That said, consuming healthy bacteria has real health effects. “Probiotics do stimulate immune and epithelial cells and produce anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acids in the intestines, which can help keep gut inflammation from getting out of control,” says Dr. Depaolo. “But, taking just any probiotic won’t replace a community of Lactobacillus after you’ve lost it. You would have to take a probiotic suited to you.”

Individualized probiotics don’t yet exist, but the microbiome is beginning to enter into Alzheimer’s disease research, mainly through the NIH-funded. Additionally, NIH Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers around the country are collecting microbiome samples of study participants, in support of efforts to finally map the microbiome gut-brain communication axis in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

For now, let’s keep in mind that our microbiome has kept us alive all of these years – and that team of 100 trillion will need a little more help as it gets older.

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Interesting… I’ve lost 3 very good friends that were very intelligent.

Mind went completely. Very sad. Two of them were super smart.

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This is a great article I believe that my stomach problems could be related to my mental health.

I also know that the brain and the stomach are connected as it says above and it really is a true thing

Also your teeth are connected to your cardiovascular system if you have bad teeth you normally have heart health issues.

The fermented food is very interesting because you can drink alcohol which is fermented but get alteimerz from that but fermented foods actually help that’s pretty cool.

I have thought about using probiotics on cycle sense I learned that they existed but my hatred for dietary supplements has kept me from trying any I don’t know if I will because of my stomach health now but in the future I might give them a try

I also wanted to add that you get stores of rotting food in your stomach and intestines and this can lead to multiple health issues getting your intestinal track cleared of this build up will relieve your gut and your stress levels make this actually happen if you notice long working stressed out individuals who don’t workout have massive guts but fat no where else really this is from eating and stress.

Amazing article thanks for sharing brother @JLee

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I will say I notice if I eat a lot of sugar I feel worse mentally and start to get more eczema. I’m trying tinfmcut back in simple sugars right now.

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Thanks @JLee good post, I just got my wife to start taking probiotics,I take them all the time,along with drinkable yogurts

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Dental health absolutely plays a critical role in overall health, including brain health. As I posted elsewhere, I had an infected tooth for nearly a decade as a result of a poorly done root canal (they missed an entire root), but it was so low grade, I never really noticed it. Then my white blood cell count was over 14000 and my internist was like, whoa, you have major systemic infection. That little tooth infection that I hardly noticed was wreaking havoc on my body, including causing non-stop sinus infections. Since resolving that infection, I can’t tell you how much better I feel overall.

I am a big fan of probiotics, as my infections caused me to live an antibiotics for nearly a year, killing off most of the good bacteria in my gut. I’m slowly but surely recovering in that regard.

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I have an issue with a tooth my blood work didn’t show an infection though but it could possibly get there another thing to add to the list lol

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