More and more studies highlight the associations between what is known as gut-brain axis and there are also more relationships on the influence of the microbiome on different systems of the organism.
He neurological field is one of those that have been incorporated into the influence of bacteria in pathologies, above all, neurodegenerative. In many cases, scientists look for interrelationships that can offer potential causes of the pathological process, as well as preventive or therapeutic approaches.
One of the latest contributions, published byScience Translational Medicine, shows that the people who are in the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease – a period in which brain changes have begun but cognitive symptoms have not yet manifested – harbor a variety of bacteria in your gut microbiome different to those of people who do not have this neurodegenerative disease, according to a study carried out by researchers at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Washington, United States.
Gautam Dantasprofessor of Genomic Medicine at the aforementioned university and co-author of the study, believes that these observations “open up the possibility of analyzing the intestinal bacterial community to identify to people with a increased risk of developing dementia. This would also allow the design of potential preventive treatments: microbiome modifiers able to prevent cognitive decline.
Dantas also points out that it is still unknown which system pivots the influence. “We don’t know if he intestine is influencing the brain or if the brain the one that influences the intestine. In any case, knowledge of this association is invaluable.”