PAYCS Alleviates Scopolamine-Induced Memory Deficits in Mice by Reducing Oxidative and Inflammatory Stress and Modulation of Gut Microbiota-Fecal Metabolites-Brain Neurotransmitter Axis

Metabolomic Analysis Reveals the Linkage between Sleep-Enhancing Effects and Metabolite Biomarkers and Pathways of Different Casein Hydrolysates in Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stressed Mice

Casein hydrolysates have been proven to exert varying sleep-enhancing and anxiolytic effects due to their distinct release of potential peptides. However, their underlying sleep-enhancing mechanisms at the metabolic level remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the potential sleep-enhancing mechanism of casein hydrolysates through an integrated approach of untargeted and targeted metabolomics in CUMS-induced anxiety mice for the first time. The results showed seven potential biomarkers were identified and screened using orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis, random forest model, and pathway analysis, including ornithine, l-proline, l-prolinamide, inhibitory neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid, 5-HIAA, fumaric acid, and 4-oxoglutaramate. Moreover, casein hydrolysates exerted sleep-enhancing effects through multiple metabolic pathways, mainly including the GABAergic system, tryptophan metabolism, and cAMP response signaling pathway, which was validated by targeted metabolomics and vital protein expressions. It was interesting that casein hydrolysates with diverse representative peptide compositions exhibited varying activity, which could be attributed to distinct alterations in metabolites via different pathways.

Positive Intervention of Distinct Peptides in Clostridioides difficile Infection in a Mouse Model

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common healthcare-associated infection and the leading cause of gastroenteritis-related deaths worldwide. To investigate the effects of peptide composition of different protein products on CDI, we analyzed and compared the peptide sequences and compositions from Engraulis japonicus and Glycine max using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). An animal model of CDI was also established to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of these peptides in vivo. The peptide compositions of E. japonicus and G. max differed, with only 11% of the peptide sequences being identical. Oral administration of the tested peptides could reduce intestinal inflammation, repair the intestinal barrier, increase the proportion of beneficial bacteria, and reduce the proportion of harmful bacteria, providing a therapeutic effect against CDI. However, the peptides may differ considerably in some aspects. E. japonicus peptides were superior to G. max peptides in promoting colon epithelial cell proliferation and repairing tight intestinal cell junctions. Interestingly, the two sources of peptides have different effects on the cecal microbiome. E. japonicus peptides can effectively restore the diversity and richness of intestinal microbiota, while G. max peptides have poor regulatory effects on the intestinal microbiota structure. Overall, E. japonicus peptides showed better results than G. max peptides in treating CDI. This study supports the potential treatment of CDI with natural peptides and promotes the development of specialty foods for CDI enteritis. Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common healthcare-associated infection and the leading cause of gastroenteritis-related deaths worldwide. To investigate the effects of peptide composition of different protein products on CDI, we analyzed and compared the peptide sequences and compositions from Engraulis japonicus and Glycine max using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). An animal model of CDI was also established to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of these peptides in vivo. The peptide compositions of E. japonicus and G. max differed, with only 11% of the peptide sequences being identical. Oral administration of the tested peptides could reduce intestinal inflammation, repair the intestinal barrier, increase the proportion of beneficial bacteria, and reduce the proportion of harmful bacteria, providing a therapeutic effect against CDI. However, the peptides may differ considerably in some aspects. E. japonicus peptides were superior to G. max peptides in promoting colon epithelial cell proliferation and repairing tight intestinal cell junctions. Interestingly, the two sources of peptides have different effects on the cecal microbiome. E. japonicus peptides can effectively restore the diversity and richness of intestinal microbiota, while G. max peptides have poor regulatory effects on the intestinal microbiota structure.

The communication mechanism of the gut-brain axis and its effect on central nervous system diseases: A systematic review

Gut microbiota is involved in intricate and active metabolic processes the host's brain function, especially its role in immune responses, secondary metabolism, and symbiotic connections with the host. Gut microbiota can promote the production of essential metabolites, neurotransmitters, and other neuroactive chemicals that affect the development and treatment of central nervous system diseases. This article introduces the relevant pathways and manners of the communication between the brain and gut, summarizes a comprehensive overview of the current research status of key gut microbiota metabolites that affect the functions of the nervous system, revealing those adverse factors that affect typical communication between the brain-gut axis, and outlining the efforts made by researchers to alleviate these neurological diseases through targeted microbial interventions. The relevant pathways and manners of communication between the brain and gut contribute to the experimental design of new treatment plans and drug development. The factors that may cause changes in gut microbiota and affect metabolites, as well as current intervention methods are summarized, which helps improve gut microbiota brain dialogue, prevent adverse triggering factors from interfering with the gut microbiota system, and minimize neuropathological changes.

Longevity extension in rats via improved redox homeostasis with high carbohydrate diet intervention from weaning to adulthood: a comprehensive multi-omics study

Early dietary patterns potentially influence the health status and lifespan throughout adulthood and the entire lifespan. However, dietary behaviors are difficult for everyone to control during adolescence. It is even more important to study the effects of interventions of early dietary patterns on the lifespan under arbitrary feeding conditions. The research involves observing the survival status and lifespan of rats from weaning to adulthood with three different dietary patterns (a high-carbohydrate diet (HC), a high-protein diet (HP), and a high-fat diet (HF)) under ad libitum feeding conditions. The administration of high-carbohydrate diets leads to a significant extension of both median and maximum survival times (P < 0.05) in Wistar rats. Furthermore, it markedly enhanced the spatial memory capacity, mitigated the occurrence of liver and kidney pathological outcomes in elderly rats, and increased the abundance of gut microbiota improving amino acid metabolism. Additionally, feeding rats a high-carbohydrate diet improved glutathione (GSH) synthesis and recycling and activated the expression and upregulation of the lifespan-related proteins Foxo3a/Sirt3 and the key metabolic enzyme GPX-4. The high-carbohydrate diet from weaning to adulthood may potentially extend the lifespan by enhancing rat systemic glutathione synthesis, recycling, and improving the redox state pathway.

Exposure to the environmental pollutant chlorpyrifos induces hepatic toxicity through activation of the JAK/STAT and MAPK pathways

Chlorpyrifos (CHP) is an inexpensive highly effective organophosphate insecticide used worldwide. The unguided and excessive use of CHP by farmers has led to its significant accumulation in crops as well as contamination of water sources, causing health problems for humans and animals. Therefore, this study evaluated the toxicological effects of exposure to the environmental pollutant CHP at low, medium, and high (2.5, 5, and 10 mg·kg-1 BW) levels on rat liver by examining antioxidant levels, inflammation, and apoptosis based on the no observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL) (1 mg·kg-1 BW) and the CHP dose that does not cause any visual symptoms (5 mg·kg-1 BW). Furthermore, the involvement of the JAK/STAT and MAPK pathways in CHP-induced toxic effects was identified. The relationship between the expression levels of key proteins (p-JAK/JAK, p-STAT/STAT, p-JNK/JNK, p-P38/P38, and p-ERK/ERK) in the pathways and changes in the expression of markers associated with inflammation [inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α), chemokines (GCLC and GCLM), and inflammatory signaling pathways (NF-кB, TLR2, TLR4, NLRP3, ASC, MyD88, IFN-γ, and iNOS)] and apoptosis [Bad, Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase3, Caspase9, and the cleavage substrate of Caspase PARP1] were also determined. The results suggest that CHP exposure disrupts liver function and activates the JAK/STAT and MAPK pathways via oxidative stress, exacerbating inflammation and apoptosis. Meanwhile, the JAK/STAT and MAPK pathways are involved in CHP-induced hepatotoxicity. These findings provide a novel direction for effective prevention and amelioration of health problems caused by CHP abuse in agriculture and households.

Selenium- and/or Zinc-Enriched Egg Diet Improves Oxidative Damage and Regulates Gut Microbiota in D-Gal-Induced Aging Mice

Eggs, with their high nutritional value, are great carriers for enriching nutrients. In this study, selenium- and/or zinc-enriched eggs (SZE) were obtained and their effects on ameliorating oxidative stress injury, alleviating cognitive impairment, and maintaining intestinal flora balance in a D-gal-induced aging mice model were investigated. As determined by the Y-maze test, SZE restored the learning and memory abilities and increased the Ach level and AChE activity of aging mice (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, supplementation of low-dose SZE increased antioxidant levels and decreased inflammation levels (p < 0.05). High-dose SZE increased anti-inflammatory levels but were less effective than low dose. Additionally, SZE maintained the intestinal flora balance and significantly increased the ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroidota. Blautia, as a probiotic, was negatively correlated with pro-inflammatory factors and positively correlated with antioxidant levels (p < 0.05). These results suggest that SZE might improve organ damage and cognitive function by attenuating oxidative stress and inflammatory response and maintaining healthy gut flora.

Food-Derived Peptides: Beneficial CNS Effects and Cross-BBB Transmission Strategies

Food-derived peptides, as dietary supplements, have significant effects on promoting brain health and relieving central nervous system (CNS) diseases. However, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) greatly limits their in-brain bioavailability. Thus, overcoming the BBB to target the CNS is a major challenge for bioactive peptides in the prevention and treatment of CNS diseases. This review discusses improvement in the neuroprotective function of food-derived active peptides in CNS diseases, as well as the source of BBB penetrating peptides (BBB-shuttles) and the mechanism of transmembrane transport. Notably, this review also discusses various peptide modification methods to overcome the low permeability and stability of the BBB. Lipification, glycosylation, introduction of disulfide bonds, and cyclization are effective strategies for improving the penetration efficiency of peptides through the BBB. This review provides a new prospective for improving their neuroprotective function and developing treatments to delay or even prevent CNS diseases.

Butyrate ameliorates chronic alcoholic central nervous damage by suppressing microglia-mediated neuroinflammation and modulating the microbiome-gut-brain axis

BACKGROUND

Alcohol abuse triggers neuroinflammation, leading to neuronal damage and further memory and cognitive impairment. Few satisfactory advances have been made in the management of alcoholic central nervous impairment. Therefore, novel and more practical treatment options are urgently needed. Butyrate, a crucial metabolite of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), has been increasingly demonstrated to protect against numerous metabolic diseases. However, the impact of butyrate on chronic alcohol consumption-induced central nervous system (CNS) lesions remains unknown.

METHODS

In this study, we assessed the possible effects and underlying mechanisms of butyrate on the attenuation of alcohol-induced CNS injury in mice. Firstly, sixty female C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: pair-fed (PF) group (PF/CON), alcohol-fed (AF) group (AF/CON), PF with sodium butyrate (NaB) group (PF/NaB) and AF with NaB group (AF/NaB). Each group was fed a modified Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet with or without alcohol. After six weeks of feeding, the mice were euthanized and the associated indicators were investigated.

RESULTS

As indicated by the behavioral tests and brain morphology, dietary NaB administration significantly ameliorated aberrant behaviors, including locomotor hypoactivity, anxiety disorder, depressive behavior, impaired learning, spatial recognition memory, and effectively reduced chronic alcoholic central nervous system damage. To further understand the underlying mechanisms, microglia-mediated inflammation and the associated M1/M2 polarization were measured separately. Firstly, pro-inflammatory TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in brain and peripheral blood circulation were decreased, but IL-10 were increased in the AF/NaB group compared with the AF/CON group. Consistently, the abnormal proportions of activated and resting microglial cells in the hippocampus and cortex regions after excessive alcohol consumption were significantly reduced with NaB treatment. Moreover, the rectification of microglia polarization (M1/M2) imbalance was found after NaB administration via binding GPR109A, up-regulating the expression of PPAR-γ and down-regulating TLR4/NF-κB activation. In addition to the direct suppression of neuroinflammation, intriguingly, dietary NaB intervention remarkably increased the levels of intestinal tight junction protein occludin and gut morphological barrier, attenuated the levels of serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and dysbiosis of gut microbiota, suggesting that NaB supplementation effectively improved the integrity and permeability of gut microecology. Finally, the neurotransmitters including differential Tryptophan (Trp) and Kynurenine (Kyn) were found with dietary NaB administration, which showed significantly altered and closely correlated with the gut microbiota composition, demonstrating the complex interactions in the microbiome-gut-brain axis involved in the efficacy of dietary NaB therapy for alcoholic CNS lesions.

CONCLUSION

Dietary microbial metabolite butyrate supplementation ameliorates chronic alcoholic central nervous damage and improves related memory and cognitive functions through suppressing microglia-mediated neuroinflammation by GPR109A/PPAR-γ/TLR4-NF-κB signaling pathway and modulating microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Chitosan oligosaccharide alleviates and removes the toxicological effects of organophosphorus pesticide chlorpyrifos residues

The abuse of chlorpyrifos (CHP), a commonly used organophosphorus pesticide, has caused many environmental pollution problems, especially its toxicological effects on non-target organisms. First, CHP enriched on the surface of plants enters ecosystem circulation along the food chain. Second, direct inflow of CHP into the water environment under the action of rainwater runoff inevitably causes toxicity to non-target organisms. Therefore, we used rats as a model to establish a CHP exposure toxicity model and studied the effects of CHP in rats. In addition, to alleviate and remove the injuries caused by residual chlorpyrifos in vivo, we explored the alleviation effect of chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) on CHP toxicity in rats by exploiting its high water solubility and natural biological activity. The results showed that CHP can induce the toxicological effects of intestinal antioxidant changes, inflammation, apoptosis, intestinal barrier damage, and metabolic dysfunction in rats, and COS has excellent removal and mitigation effects on the toxic damage caused by residual CHP in the environment. In summary, COS showed significant biological effects in removing and mitigating blood biochemistry, antioxidants, inflammation, apoptosis, gut barrier structure, and metabolic function changes induced by residual CHP in the environment.

Apolipoprotein E knockout may affect cognitive function in D-galactose-induced aging mice through the gut microbiota–brain axis

The gut microbiota plays an important role in central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) can affect the composition of the gut microbiota and is closely related to the CNS. However, the mechanism by which ApoE affects cognitive dysfunction through the gut microbiota–brain axis has thus far not been investigated. In this study, we used wild-type mice and ApoE knockout (ApoE^–/–) mice to replicate the aging model and examined the effects of ApoE deletion on cognitive function, hippocampal ultrastructure, synaptophysin (SYP) and postsynaptic density 95 (PSD-95) in aging mice. We also explored whether ApoE deletion affects the gut microbiota and the metabolite profile of the hippocampus in aging mice and finally examined the effect of ApoE deletion on lipids and oxidative stress in aging mice. The results showed that the deletion of ApoE aggravated cognitive dysfunction, hippocampal synaptic ultrastructural damage and dysregulation of SYP and PSD-95 expression in aging mice. Furthermore, ApoE deletion reduced gut microbial makeup in aging mice. Further studies showed that ApoE deletion altered the hippocampal metabolic profile and aggravated dyslipidemia and oxidative stress in aging mice. In brief, our findings suggest that loss of ApoE alters the composition of the gut microbiota, which in turn may affect cognitive function in aging mice through the gut microbiota–brain axis.

The Gut Microbiome and Alzheimer's Disease: A Growing Relationship

Evidence that the gut microbiota plays a key role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease is already unravelling. The microbiota-gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication system that is not fully understood but includes neural, immune, endocrine, and metabolic pathways. The progression of Alzheimer's disease is supported by mechanisms related to the imbalance in the gut microbiota and the development of amyloid plaques in the brain, which are at the origin of Alzheimer's disease. Alterations in the composition of the gut microbiome led to dysregulation in the pathways governing this system. This leads to neurodegeneration through neuroinflammation and neurotransmitter dysregulation. Neurodegeneration and disruption of the blood-brain barrier are frontiers at the origin of Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, bacteria populating the gut microbiota can secrete large amounts of amyloid proteins and lipopolysaccharides, which modulate signaling pathways and alter the production of proinflammatory cytokines associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Importantly, through molecular mimicry, bacterial amyloids may elicit cross-seeding of misfolding and induce microglial priming at different levels of the brain-gut-microbiota axis. The potential mechanisms of amyloid spreading include neuron-to-neuron or distal neuron spreading, direct blood-brain barrier crossing, or via other cells such as astrocytes, fibroblasts, microglia, and immune system cells. Gut microbiota metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, pro-inflammatory factors, and neurotransmitters may also affect AD pathogenesis and associated cognitive decline. The purpose of this review is to summarize and discuss the current findings that may elucidate the role of gut microbiota in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Understanding the underlying mechanisms may provide new insights into novel therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's disease, such as probiotics and targeted oligosaccharides.