Cited by 116Probiotics and Fermented FoodsGut microbiota and healthGastrointestinal motility and disorders

Cafeteria diet and probiotic therapy: cross talk among memory, neuroplasticity, serotonin receptors and gut microbiota in the rat

Beilharz, J E, Kaakoush, N O, Maniam, J, Morris, M J·2018·Molecular Psychiatry

Abstract

The western diet is known to have detrimental effects on cognition and the gut microbiota, but few studies have investigated how these may be related. Here, we examined whether a probiotic could prevent diet-induced memory deficits. Rats were pre-exposed to vehicle, low or high doses of VSL#3 for 2 weeks before half were switched from chow to a cafeteria diet (Caf) for 25 days; VSL#3 treatment continued until death. High-dose VSL#3 prevented the diet-induced memory deficits on the hippocampal-dependent place task, but the probiotic caused deficits on the perirhinal-dependent object task, irrespective of diet or dose. No differences were observed in anxiety-like behaviour on the elevated plus maze. Gut microbial diversity was dramatically decreased by Caf diet and here, VSL#3 was able to increase the abundance of some taxa contained in the probiotic such as Streptococcus and Lactobacillus and also other taxa including Butyrivibrio, which were decreased by the Caf diet. This affected the predicted profile of microbial metabolic pathways related to antioxidant and bile biosynthesis, and fat and carbohydrate metabolism. In the hippocampus, the Caf diet increased the expression of many genes related to neuroplasticity and serotonin receptor (5HT) 1A, which was normalised in Caf-High rats. Distance-based linear modelling showed that these genes were the best predictors of place memory, and related to microbiota principal component (PC) 1. Neuroplasticity genes in the perirhinal cortex were also affected and related to PC1 but object memory performance was correlated with perirhinal 5HT2C expression and microbiota PC3. These results show that probiotics can be beneficial in situations of gut dysbiosis where memory deficits are evident but may be detrimental in healthy subjects.

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Crossref · 10.1038/mp.2017.38

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  • Changes in neurochemistry, neuronal activity, signaling, brain inflammation, and gene expression related to neuroplasticity were associated with administration of high-fat, high-sucrose, or high-caloric diets.

    “Additionally, changes in neurochemistry (e.g., reduction in BDNF in the hippocampus), neuronal activity (e.g., increased c-Fos activity in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala), and signaling [e.g., altered γ -aminobutyrate (GABA)], increase in brain inflammation [e.g., increased microglia, expression of inflammatory genes, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (Gfap)] and gene expression related to”
  • Prior treatment with a probiotic (VSL#3, containing 3 strains of bifidobacteria, 4 strains of lactobacilli, and 1 strain of Streptococcus) was able to prevent diet-induced cognitive deficits in the hippocampal-dependent place recognition task and rescue specific bacterial taxa that were decreased by exposure to a cafeteria diet.

    “Interestingly, prior treatment with a probiotic (VSL#3, containing 3 strains of bifidobacteria, 4 strains of lactobacilli, and 1 strain of Streptococcus) was able to prevent dietinduced cognitive deficits in the hippocampal-dependent place recognition task and rescue specific bacterial taxa that were decreased by exposure to a cafeteria diet (317).”
  • In rats, a cafeteria diet decreased microbial diversity and produced deficits in a place recognition task.

    “↓ Microbial diversity (observed OTUs | and Shannon's diversity) after Caf | diet”

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Authors
Beilharz, J. E., Kaakoush, N. O., Maniam, J., & Morris, M. J.
Affiliations
UNSW Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Morris, M J
Venue
Molecular Psychiatry
Published
2017-03-14
Volume
23
Issue
2
Pages
351-361
ISSN
  • 1359-4184 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-5578
OpenAlex
W2605949832
Cited by
116
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 3
FWCI
14.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Molecular Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Cancer Institute NSW
  • University of New South Wales
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
cafeteria diet, Western diet, probiotics, VSL#3, gut microbiota, memory impairment, perirhinal cortex, object memory, serotonin receptors, 5-HT1A receptor, 5-HT2C receptor, anxiety-like behavior, gut dysbiosis, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Butyrivibrio, microbial metabolic pathways
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Cognition, Diet, Hippocampus, Male, Memory, Memory Disorders, Neuronal Plasticity, Receptors, Serotonin, Serotonin, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Probiotics, Rats, Diet, Western

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