Shahin Nancy N, Ahmed-Farid Omar A, Sakr Ebtehag A E, Kamel Enas A, Mohamed Maha M
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, 11562, Egypt.
Department of Physiology, Egyptian Drug Authority, Giza, 12553, Egypt.
Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2025 Jan 7. doi: 10.1007/s12602-024-10429-7.
High-fat diet (HFD) consumption disrupts the gut microbiome, instigating metabolic disturbance, brain pathology, and cognitive decline via the gut-brain axis. Probiotic and prebiotic supplementation have been found to improve gut microbiome health, suggesting they could be effective in managing neurodegenerative disorders. This study explored the potential benefits of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum 20174 (L. plantarum), prebiotic Asparagus officinalis (A. officinalis) extract, or their synbiotic combination against HFD-induced cognitive dysfunction and neurodegeneration in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a normal diet or an HFD for 24 weeks. Starting from week 13, rats on either diet were divided into vehicle-, prebiotic-, probiotic-, and synbiotic-treated subgroups. Rats received their assigned intervention for 12 more weeks. Prebiotic, probiotic, or synbiotic treatment reverted HFD-instigated alterations in hippocampal amyloid beta, p-tau, α-synuclein, and BDNF levels, leading to restored cognitive function. The tested therapies also improved the HFD-disrupted lipid profile. Interestingly, probiotic and synbiotic therapies attenuated oxidative stress and inflammation, reinstated neurotransmitter balance, and mitigated the energy deficit in HFD-fed rats. Furthermore, L. plantarum and Asparagus administration modulated gut microbiota composition by raising Lactobacillus species and reducing Coliform and Staphylococci bacteria as well as fungi populations. These findings suggest that the oral consumption of A. officinalis prebiotics and/or L. plantarum probiotics alleviates HFD-induced cognitive deficit and neurodegeneration through modulation of the gut-brain axis with superior restorative effects being achieved by synbiotic treatment.
食用高脂饮食（HFD）会破坏肠道微生物群，通过肠-脑轴引发代谢紊乱、脑部病变和认知能力下降。已发现补充益生菌和益生元可改善肠道微生物群健康状况，这表明它们可能对治疗神经退行性疾病有效。本研究探讨了益生菌植物乳杆菌20174（L. plantarum）、益生元芦笋（A. officinalis）提取物或它们的合生元组合对HFD诱导的大鼠认知功能障碍和神经退行性变的潜在益处。雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠分别喂食正常饮食或HFD 24周。从第13周开始，两种饮食组的大鼠均被分为载体对照组、益生元治疗组、益生菌治疗组和合生元治疗组。大鼠再接受指定干预12周。益生元、益生菌或合生元治疗逆转了HFD引发的海马淀粉样β蛋白、磷酸化tau蛋白、α-突触核蛋白和脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）水平的改变，从而恢复了认知功能。所测试的疗法还改善了HFD破坏的血脂状况。有趣的是，益生菌和合生元疗法减轻了氧化应激和炎症，恢复了神经递质平衡，并缓解了喂食HFD大鼠的能量不足。此外，给予植物乳杆菌和芦笋可通过增加乳杆菌属物种并减少大肠菌、葡萄球菌以及真菌种群来调节肠道微生物群组成。这些发现表明，口服芦笋益生元和/或植物乳杆菌益生菌可通过调节肠-脑轴减轻HFD诱导的认知缺陷和神经退行性变，其中合生元治疗具有更优的恢复效果。
