Gut Microbiome: Clue to Detecting Alzheimer's Before Symptoms Arise

New research suggests that the gut microbiome could hold clues to early detection of Alzheimer's disease, opening doors to non-invasive diagnostic methods.

Highlights:

Gut microbiota alterations may serve as early markers for Alzheimer's disease
Gut microbiome data improves the accuracy of diagnosing preclinical Alzheimer's
Beneficial gut microorganisms are linked to preclinical Alzheimer's, but the cause-and-effect relationship is yet to be determined

What if the bacteria in your gut might serve as an early warning system, alerting you to the possibility of Alzheimer's disease? This may seem unlikely, but recent research has discovered that specific microorganisms are more frequent in patients with very early signs of the disease, leading to a potential new means of detection for a condition that affects millions around the world.

The gut microbiome is a collection of microbes in the gut that includes bacteria, viruses, and fungi. It is assumed that having different microbial populations is beneficial to our general health. However, in some cases, the gut microbiome may contain microorganisms that are hazardous to our health ().

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Gut Microbiota Alterations in the Preclinical Stage of Alzheimer's Disease

Amyloid-beta and tau proteins accumulate abnormally in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. Their presence causes the typical memory loss and cognitive impairment associated with the condition, with symptoms worsening with time.

Long before the development of Alzheimer's symptoms, amyloid-beta and tau begin to build. The researchers observed alterations in the gut microbiota during this period (known as the "preclinical stage").

The researchers discovered significant changes in the gut microbiota profiles of elderly persons with and without preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Differences in the gut microbiome appeared to be linked to the buildup of amyloid-beta and tau proteins in the brain in patients with preclinical Alzheimer's.

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Potential of Gut Microbiome Data as a Diagnostic Tool for Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease

Doctors presently rely on the findings of several diagnostic tests to determine whether a patient has preclinical Alzheimer's disease. The researchers paired these findings with their participants' gut microbiome data and fed it into a machine learning algorithm, which is a computer program that can make predictions based on data input.

They discovered that incorporating gut microbiome data increased the algorithm's capacity to reliably diagnose preclinical Alzheimer's. This was true even when not all diagnostic test data was included.

Some diagnostic techniques for preclinical Alzheimer's are painful, such as lumbar puncture, or rely on expensive imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, access to which is known to be unequal around the world.

The idea of assessing a person's risk of developing the disease by studying their gut flora, which only requires a stool (poo) sample, is tempting. It would provide a non-invasive, more accessible method of detecting persons at risk of acquiring Alzheimer's disease early, giving them more time to plan and prepare for the future.

However, it should be highlighted that the study's improvement in predicting preclinical Alzheimer's by integrating gut microbiome data was rather minor. So, while studying gut microbiome data may supplement existing approaches for diagnosing preclinical Alzheimer's disease, it cannot yet replace them.

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Beneficial Gut Microorganisms Associated with Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease

Surprisingly, some of the species shown to be connected with preclinical Alzheimer's symptoms were previously thought to be beneficial to human health. One of those identified is a bacteria called Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F. prausnitzii), which was found to be more frequent in the gut microbiome of people without Alzheimer's than those with the condition in a prior study.

It's unclear why potentially beneficial microorganisms were linked to those with preclinical Alzheimer's symptoms rather than those who were cognitively well. The stage of the disease could be one explanation. It's critical to understand that not everyone who shows indicators of preclinical Alzheimer's will develop the disease. Later stages of the disease may result in alterations to the gut microbiota, such as the loss of F. prausnitzii.

While it may be tempting to conclude that the gut microorganisms associated with preclinical Alzheimer's are also contributing to the disease's development, the study provides no evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship.

However, if a link can be established, it throws up the exciting possibility that future Alzheimer's medicines may target the microorganisms in our gut.

Reference:

Gut microbiome composition may be an indicator of preclinical Alzheimer's disease - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37315112/)

Source-Medindia

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