Topic: gut dysbiosis

There is increasing evidence for dysfunction of blood-brain barrier (BBB) to play a critical role in the pathological mechanisms and progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD). PD-related pathology such as alpha-synuclein (aSyn) accumulation potentially affects the integrity of the BBB starting at an early disease stage. This could result in a self-perpetuating pathophysiology of inflammation and BBB alteration, which contributes to neurodegeneration.In our initial study, we described microvascular changes during disease progression in a mouse model with overexpression of human aSyn (Thy1-aSyn, l

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that is up to 90% idiopathic and occurs randomly in the population, possibly due to environmental factors. It is characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain region called substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). This results in a range of motor and non-motor symptoms that severely impact the life quality of the affected individual. Studies have shown that gut dysbiosis in Parkinson's disease precedes neuronal degeneration, and our laboratory found that one of the environmental factors, dim light at nig

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that is the leading cause of disability in young adults. The most severe clinical form of MS is the primary progressive (PP). We and others have shown that melatonin (MLT), improves the disease modulating the immune response in the Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) monofasic mouse model of MS. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic use of MLT in the neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and gut dysbiosis in the preclinical model of MS-PP, the progressive EAE (p-EAE).p-EAE was induced in 10-we

We aimed to develop and standardize a diet and rotenone-based animal model of Parkinson's disease. To achieve this, 21 days old male C57BL/6 mice were fed on a high-fat diet [HFD] (60%kcal) for 17 weeks; starting from week 11, animals were orally gavaged daily with 10mg/kg rotenone dose till the end of the 17th week. Further, they were subjected to behavioral tests (Rota-rod, Y maze, and fecal pellet output test). Fecal pellets were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing and animals were subsequently euthanized. Our data revealed that rotenone and its combination with HFD exhibited loss of motor fu

While emerging evidence suggests a role for gut bacteria in the pathophysiology of substance use disorder (SUD), studies of their impact on brain and behavioral responses to drugs have been very limited so far. We previously showed that gut dysbiosis enhances the nicotine-induced activation of the mesolimbic system and alters nicotine’s motivational properties in mice. However, the mechanisms linking gut bacteria to the mesolimbic system to influence its response to nicotine remain to be identified. Microbial products are suspected to play a role in this process by influencing gene expression,