The Microbiome and Alzheimer's Disease: Potential and Limitations of Prebiotic, Synbiotic, and Probiotic Formulations

The Microbiome has generated significant attention for its impacts not only on gastrointestinal health, but also on signaling pathways of the enteric and central nervous system via the microbiome gut-brain axis. In light of this, microbiome modulation may be an effective therapeutic strategy for treating or mitigating many somatic and neural pathologies, including neurodegenerative disorders. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that interferes with cerebral function by progressively impairing memory, thinking and learning through the continuous depletion of neurons. Although its etiopathogenesis remains uncertain, recent literature endorses the hypothesis that probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic supplementation alters AD-like symptoms and improves many of its associated disease biomarkers. Alternatively, a dysfunctional microbiota impairs the gut epithelial barrier by inducing chronic gastric inflammation, culminating in neuroinflammation and accelerating AD progression. The findings in this review suggest that probiotics, prebiotics or synbiotics have potential as novel biological prophylactics in treatment of AD, due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, their ability to improve cognition and metabolic activity, as well as their capacity of producing essential metabolites for gut and brain barrier permeability.

[Norepinephrine and intestinal microbiome in the early stages of demyelination: clinical-immunological parallels]

Biogenic amines are key mediators of neuroimmune interaction and may influence on multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis and MS course. At the same time, the role of biogenic amines in immunoregulation of early stages of demyelination, in particular clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS) is still unclear. This literature review addresses a role of norepinephrine in the regulation of neuroimmune interactions in the early stages of the demyelination. Neuropsychological disorders, immunological characteristics, gut-brain axis as well as the role of norepinephrine in these interactions in patients with CIS, RIS and early MS are discussed.

[Non-pharmaceutical treatment of dyslipidemia: review of current methods of diet and nutraceuticals]

The role of nutrition in the development and progression of atherosclerosis is well known. The correction of diet in patients with dyslipidemia is important as an independent intervention (in the group of patients with low and, partially, moderate cardiovascular risk), and as an addition to drug therapy in patients with at higher risk of cardiovascular events. The current review describes the effect of modern methods of diet therapy, as well as the use of a number of nutraceutical agents in terms of evidence-based medicine.