2024-02-29 06:34:59
This fact, ratified by scientists from the University of Granada (UGR), opens up new therapeutic options to improve children’s neurodevelopment.
Scientists from the University of Granada (UGR), in southern Spain, demonstrated that the microbiota contributes to the development of intelligence and memory. This fact, then, allows us to open new therapeutic options for improve childhood neurodevelopment.
Researchers at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology José Mataix and the Institute of Neurosciences of the UGR demonstrated that The microbiota contributes to the development of intelligence and memory through probiotic microorganisms and histidine metabolites.
The results of the study were developed in collaboration with the research center Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research de Leipzig (Alemania). The conclusion, therefore, opens the possibility of developing new innovative therapies to improve childhood neurodevelopment with the use of probiotic compounds or microorganisms.
Several previous studies have shown that alteration of the microbiota is related to neurodevelopmental diseases. Among them stands out autism, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis, and behaviour, such as anxiety or hyperactivity.
However, to date the mechanisms that link the microbiota and childhood neurodevelopment were not known.
Microbiota: proven study
The research observed that the composition of the microbiota in six-month-old babies was different depending on their cognitive response to Bailey test. The latter measures motor, cognitive, socio-emotional and language development.
The study also confirmed that the function of the microbiota was also different, associating histidine ammonia-lyase or histidase present in the microbiota with the cognition of babies, which includes intelligence and memory.
Confirmation of this association was obtained by observing that the profiles of histidine metabolites were different depending on the cognitive behavior of the babies.
To carry out the experimental tests, the researchers transplanted the babies’ microbiota into axenic mice or germ-free. The animals were provided by the Animal Experimentation Unit of the Scientific Instrumentation Center of the UGR. This is the only institution that has this type of mice in Spain.
The rats germ-free They are a special experimental model because they are born devoid of microbes. Furthermore, they live in a completely sterile free environment.
In the object recognition test traditionally used in murine models, Mice that received the microbiota of babies with better cognition showed greater memory capacity than that of babies with worse cognition.
The study was also developed with funds from the central government, the Junta de Andalucía and the German government. and confirmed the importance of the microbiota in human well-beingfrom the regulation of the immune system to neurotransmitters.
Source: EL NACIONAL. com