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Other international assessment
VU GMC researcher dr. This is not the first time that A. Burok’s works have gained international recognition. Last year, the young scientist’s research was evaluated in the US – For his publication on the influence of prebiotics on the microbiota-gut-brain axis, the researcher received the Somerfeld-Ziskind award.
After this award, dr. A. Burok continues to delve into the connection between the microbiota and the human brain. The latest study carried out by Lithuania together with their Spanish colleagues “Obesity alters working and short-term memory through the metabolism of aromatic amino acids in the intestinal microflora” was published in the prestigious neurobiology journal “Cell Metabolism”, which has a particularly high citation rate.
“The reaction of the world publication to this international research is the recognition of the high level of neurobiological sciences in Lithuania. I would like to thank my Spanish colleagues, without whose work we would not have been able to achieve it, so the publication of Cell Metabolism is a definitive assessment of these researchers as well ”, says the neuroscientist.
Mice were used to help
Speaking of his latest research, dr. A. Burokas emphasizes that he has given the world of science completely new facts about the microbiota, the bacterial ecosystem in the human gut. “So far, research has linked obesity to memory impairment, but it has not been clear what specifically causes processes in an overweight person that can affect short-term memory,” he says.
However, a few years ago, a Lithuanian scientist and colleagues from Spain thought that the link between being overweight and reduced human brain activity may be due in part to the modulation of our immune system in the gut and via the nomadic nerve, which it can affect the synthesis of various metabolites. it hosts biochemical processes and concomitant brain activity.
In a study conducted in 2018. In Spain, dr. A. Burokas worked with mice. Later, biochemical work and data analysis continued in Lithuania, returning under the return program funded by the Lithuanian Science Council for young scientists, which paved the way for research on the role of the microbiota in disease. Alzheimer’s and allowed this important study to continue.
“The mice that I studied while I was still living in Barcelona were used as a model for research on the human microbiota. The gut ecosystems of overweight people, also known as the microbiota, have been transferred to healthy mice. Already in Lithuania, working at VU GMC and analyzing data from an investigation carried out in Barcelona, I noticed that the human microbiota transferred to mice in some cases caused a short-term memory shortening of these animals ”, says the researcher.
Mice with higher scores on memory tests had higher levels of good bacteria like Akkermansia, Clostridium and Roseburia, while the mice that performed worse on these memory tests had more of the other type in the microbiota (Bacteroides) bacteria. Furthermore, aromatic amino acid metabolism was altered in mice that received gut microbiota from overweight individuals, and had increased expression of inflammatory genes in specific areas of the brain. “So studies in mice have shown a really possible link between gut microorganisms and brain activity.”
Colleagues confirmed the importance of the microbiota
In addition to experiments with mice, this study also looked at reactions in humans. “The Spanish colleagues who participated in the study, researchers in nutritional pathophysiology led by José Fernández-Real from the Center for Biomedical Research in Girona and the neuroscientist Rafael Maldonado from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, worked with 116 people,” says the Dr. A. Burokas.
Spanish researchers evaluated the memory of the participants in the experiment and then analyzed their microbiota. Interestingly, the results of the memory test could be related to different bacteria in the microbiota. More bacteria from several families of microorganisms (Clostridium, Ruminococcus, Eubacterium and Selenomonadaceae) were considered good bacteria in people with good learning and oral memory tests and participants with Bacteroides and Protobacteriaassociated with the breakdown of vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid (vitamin B9) were characterized by worse results in memory tests.
Additionally, studies have shown that overweight people not only fared worse on tests that require short-term memory, but also found less tryptophan, one of the essential amino acids important for serotonin synthesis, in the blood. Its metabolism is also highly dependent on the gut microbiota.
It is important to see all the processes
The study was not limited to memory, blood, and gut microbiota studies. It was also important for the researchers to see the processes that occur in the brain.
After memory tests, blood tests and microbiota, another important step in this experiment was that Spanish colleagues analyzed the results of MRI of the brain of the participants to assess the volume of various areas of the brain associated with memory of work and short term. The short-term memory of all individuals was associated with certain areas of the hippocampus, and the working memory required for the storage and retrieval of information in the short term was associated with specific areas of the forehead, ”says the neuroscientist.
People with a larger left hippocampus and better memory test scores have been found to have a higher incidence of good bacteria like Roseburia, abundance in the microbiota as well as lower levels of Bacteroides. Similarly, individuals with greater volume in specific areas of the forehead lobe were characterized by higher rates Acetitomaculum ruminis and lower levels of Bacteroides in the microbiota. According to dr. R. Buroko, both the mouse studies and the analysis of the parameters of the human body showed the same thing: being overweight is associated with impaired short-term memory, and this relationship may be due to our microbiota.
“This discovery reveals interesting links between the composition of the gut microbiota and cognitive activity and helps to better understand the metabolic dialogue between our brain and the bacteria that live with us. The findings of our study, published in Cell Metabolism, suggest that the gut microbiota may be a target to help treat memory disorders, especially in overweight people, ”says Dr. A. Burokas.
A researcher at VU GMC is convinced that for overweight and cognitively changed patients, a therapeutically modified microbiota would help improve quality of life. “I have no doubt that this topic deserves further investigation. We plan to continue the work started. In Lithuania, we are implementing the project in this field “Gut Microbial Markers in Autism Spectrum Disorders”, in which we will actively cooperate with the doctors from VU Hospital Santara Clinics, led by prof. Vaidoto Urbono. We pay special attention to the influence of microbial, intestinal and brain connectivity in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and autism. Perhaps one day we can find a way to overcome these diseases, “hopes Dr. A. Burokas.
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