A team at the University of California, Los Angeles studied how gut microbiota may affect the brain and behavior as part of new research in Cell Host & Microbe.
The study was conducted on rodents and centered on how gut microbes may worsen the complications of cognitive impairment (CI) in which the hippocampus is impacted.
“Many genetic and environmental factors increase susceptibility to CI, and the gut microbiome is increasingly implicated. However, the identity of gut microbes associated with CI risk, their effects on CI, and their mechanisms remain unclear,” researchers stated.
“Here, we show that a carbohydrate-restricted (ketogenic) diet potentiates CI induced by intermittent hypoxia in mice and alters the gut microbiota,” the authors also explained in their study.
The study showed that a ketogenic diet and treatment with a species of Bilophila affects the hippocampus reducing cognitive abilities in rodents.
“Together, these findings identify select gut bacteria that contribute to environmental risk for CI in mice by promoting inflammation and hippocampal dysfunction,” researchers concluded.
