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Graz – The microbiome in the intestine helps with digestion – and it also seems to affect the psyche. For example, researchers at Med-University Graz have recently published a diet that is very rich in fats by changes in the microbiome that can influence the development of depression. They took in the mouse model, the interaction of the intestine and the brain under the microscope, the United Kingdom said on Monday.
Leberkäsesemmel, hamburgers, doner kebab, frozen pizza: diet not only affects weight, but also seems to affect mental condition. "Many are aware of the health effects of a very high fat diet, but not only does the body suffer from too much fat, but also from the mind," says Peter Holzer of the Ottoman Research Center. Loewi from Med-University Graz. In collaboration with colleagues from Belgium and Great Britain, his team studied the effects of a high-fat diet on the intestinal microbiome (the sum of microorganisms colonizing the intestine, note), brain metabolism , the neuropeptide-messenger Y and the behavior of mice. 19659003] The mice were subjected to a high-fat diet
During the study, the mice were fed a diet with a fat content of 60 percent for several weeks. This resulted in a significant increase in weight, while the control group with a balanced diet remained stable with up to twelve percent fat. It was predictable, but "after eight weeks of high-fat diet, animal behavior had changed dramatically," says Ahmed M. Hbadan of the Holzer group. Thus, high fat mice fed less interacted with their mates, neglected their grooming and showed little desire for sugar water. All signs of depressive behavior in mice, according to Hbadan.
Researchers have sought to understand how the high-fat diet can cause such mental changes. First of all, it has been shown that in mice subjected to an unfavorable diet, the composition of the bacterial species – particularly of the group Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes – had changed. Firmicutes also include bacteria of the Lachnospiraceae family. In these and Ruminococcaceae a decrease was observed in the large intestine of mice – as well as in patients.
Notable neurochemical disturbances were found
Microbial changes also revealed striking neurochemical disturbances in the brain of mice: Reading (Great Britain) examined mouse brains using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and discovered both changes in metabolism and signal transmission. Thus, the expression of neuropeptide-Y in certain areas of the brain, inter alia for appetite, anxiety and mood, is significantly reduced.
"These effects indicate a brain function disorder that may explain depressive behavior after a high-fat diet." Holzer reluctantly concluded. Nevertheless, despite the newly discovered connections, many questions remain open about nutrition, the intestine, the microbiome and the psyche. Holzer's group is now trying to discover by manipulation which parts of the intestinal microbiome are causally implicated in fat-induced depression. Since treatment with antidepressants in mice has had no effect on depressive type behavior, scientists badume that it is a very special interaction between dietary factors, the intestinal microbiome and brain dysfunction. (APA)
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