Project description:Background: The long-term high-fat, high-sugar diet exacerbates type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-related cognitive impairments. The negative impact of poor dietary patterns on brain development and neurological function may be related to gut microbiota disturbance. The role of phlorizin in mitigating glucose and lipid metabolism disorders is well documented. However, the protective effect of phlorizin on diabetes-related cognitive dysfunction is unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of phlorizin on high-fat and high-fructose diet (HFFD)-induced cognitive dysfunction and evaluate the crucial role of the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Results: Dietary supplementation of phlorizin for 14 weeks effectively prevented glucolipid metabolism disorder, spatial learning impairment, and memory impairment in HFFD mice. In addition, phlorizin improved the HFFD-induced decrease in synaptic plasticity, neuroinflammation, and excessive activation of microglia in the hippocampus. Transcriptomics analysis shows that the protective effect of phlorizin on cognitive impairment was associated with increased expression of neurotransmitters and synapse-related genes in the hippocampus. Phlorizin treatment alleviated colon microbiota disturbance, mainly manifested by an increase in gut microbiota diversity and the abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria. The level of microbial metabolites, including SCFA, inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP), and D (-)-beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB) were also significantly increased after phlorizin treatment. Moreover, integrating multiomics analysis observed tight connections between phlorizin-regulated genes, microbiota, and metabolites. Furthermore, removal of the gut microbiota via antibiotics treatment diminished the protective effect of phlorizin against HFFD-induced cognitive impairment, underscoring the critical role of the gut microbiota in mediating cognitive behavior. Importantly, supplementation with SCFA and BHB alone mimicked the regulatory effects of phlorizin on cognitive function. Conclusions: These results indicate that gut microbiota and their metabolites mediate the ameliorative effect of phlorizin on HFFD-induced cognitive impairment. Therefore, phlorizin can be used as an easy-to-implement nutritional therapy to prevent and alleviate metabolism-related neurodegenerative diseases by targeting the regulation of the microbiome-gut-brain axis.
Project description:Hippocampal Neuroinflammation (HNF) is a critical driver of cognitive impairment. The lipo-polysaccharide (LPS) accumulate amyloid beta (Aβ) and lead to HNF. The Bifidobacterium lactis (BL) 99 have anti-inflammatory ability. However, the whether BL99-derived microbiota-derived vesi-cles (MV) could alleviate LPS induced HNF remain unclear.
Project description:Unravel the mechanisms underlying brain aging and Alzheimer´s disease (AD) has been difficult because of complexity of the networks that drive these aging-related changes. Analysis of the gene expression in the brain is a valuable tool to study the function of the brain under normal and pathological conditions. Gene microarray technology allows massively parallel analysis of most genes expressed in a tissue, and therefore is an important research tool that potentially can provide the investigative power needed to address the complexity of brain aging and neurodegenerative processes. One of the reasons that account for the resistance of AD pathogenesis to analysis is that clinically normal subjects may exhibit considerable AD pathology, blurring criteria for distinguishing subjects with normal aging or AD. Here, we analyzed hippocampal and cortex frontal gene expression from 32 subjects separated in individuals presenting, 1) both pathologic and clinical AD (definitive AD); 2) AD pathology and normal clinic (pathologic AD); 3) cognitive impairment, without AD pathology (others dementias); and 4) no cognitive impairment, without AD pathology (normal individuals). Our results show that based on gene expression profile these individuals we could verify similarity between the definitive AD group and the group that only had AD-type pathology (pathologic AD). Specimens of hippocampus and cortex frontal used in this study were obtained at autopsy from 32 subjects. Neuropathology, specifically NFT and NP, was assessed in accordance to the Braak staging and CERAD scores, respectively. Based on pathologic and clinic criteria, subjects were categorized into four groups: 1) nine subjects with AD neuropathologic (Braak = IV / V / VI and CERAD ≠ 0) presenting cognitive impairment (CDR ≥ 1), termed “definitive AD” (dAD); 2) five subjects with AD neuropathologic (Braak = IV / V / VI and CERAD ≠ 0) and without cognitive impairment (CDR = 0), termed “pathologic AD” (pAD); 3) nine subjects without AD neuropathologic (Braak = 0 / I / II and CERAD ≠ C) presenting cognitive impairment (CDR ≥ 1), termed “other dementias” (OD); 4) - nine subjects without AD neuropathologic (Braak = 0 / I / II and CERAD ≠ C) and without cognitive impairment (CDR = 0), termed “normal” (N). RNA isolation and Amplification. From total RNA, a two-round linear amplification procedure (T7-based protocol) was carried out for all samples and for a pool of RNAs obtained from 15 distinct human cell lines used as reference. Labeled cDNA was generated in a reverse transcriptase reaction using amplified RNA (aRNA). Equal amounts of test and reference cDNA reverse color Cy-labeled aRNA targets were competitively hybridized against the cDNA probes in a customized cDNA platform with 4,608 ORESTES representing human genes. Dye-swap was performed for each sample as control for dye bias and used as replicate.
Project description:Hypoxic ischemic brain damage (HIBD) is the primary cause of neurological deficits in neonates, leading to long-term cognitive impairment. Recent studies have demonstrated that gut microbiota plays a crucial role in the development of cognitive impairment after brain injury, known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis.
Project description:The aims of this three-year study are to explore cognitive function under different stages of colorectal cancer (CRC) and its related factors; and understand its disturbance and coping process caused by cancer-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) from patient perspective; and further to test effect of dual-task walking on improving cognitive function in CRC patients.
Project description:This study investigated the epigenetic mark of DNA methylation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as a function of age and cognition. Young and aged F344 rats were characterized in a cognitive flexibility task, set shifting, and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing was performed in an Illumina system. The results indicate that differential methylation was linked to the expression of genes within functional categories which may mediate impaired cognition in aging. Differences in aging included hypermethylation of genes linked to synaptic function and GTPase activity. Further, age-related cognitive flexibility impairment was correlated to hypermethylation of synaptic, postsynaptic density and ion channel activity genes.
Project description:, this study aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying neuropathological processes related to cognitive impairment in mice chronically-treated with METH. In addition, the effective melatonin on recovery of neurological dysfunction and neurobehavioral deficits during METH withdrawal was also investigated. Cognitive function was evaluated in mice after chronic METH administration and METH withdrawal, and the effect of melatonin treatment during the withdrawal phase on cognitive function was also assessed. In addition, the profile of proteins related to mitochondrial and neurological functions in PFC was determined using proteomic and western blot analysis.
Project description:Aging leads to a progressive deterioration in brain function, which will eventually result in cognitive decline and can develop into a dementia. The mechanisms underlying pathological cognitive decline in aging are still poorly understood. The peripheral immune system, as well as the meningeal lymphatic vasculature and the immune cells residing in the brain and meninges, are all affected by aging. Moreover, recent studies have linked the dysfunction of the meningeal lymphatic system and peripheral immunity to accelerated brain aging. We hypothesized that an age-related reduction in CCR7-dependent immune cell egress through the lymphatic vasculature mediates some aspects of aging-associated brain dysfunction, leading to cognitive decline and potentially exacerbating neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we report a reduction in CCR7 expression by meningeal T cells in aged mice and its associated increase in meningeal T-regulatory cells. Hematopoietic CCR7 deficiency mimicked the aging-associated changes in meningeal T cells and led to cognitive impairment. Interestingly, CCR7-deficient mice also presented impaired brain glymphatic function and showed increased amyloid beta (A) deposition when crossed with the 5xFAD transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These results show that the aging-associated decrease in CCR7 expression impacts meningeal immunity, affects different aspects of brain function and exacerbates brain A pathology, highlighting its potential as a pathogenic mechanism for cognitive decline in aging and AD.