Spirulina platensis alleviates high fat diet-induced cognitive impairment in mice via the gut-brain axis

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggested that the gut microbiome-brain axis plays a critical role in regulating cognitive functions. In this study, we aimed to investigate the dietary treatment effect of Spirulina platensis on learning deficits in high fat diet (HFD) fed mice and clarify the potential mechanisms via investigating the gut microbiome-brain axis. Dietary administration of 1% and 2% Spirulina platensis for 16 weeks significantly improved the spatial learning and memory performance of the HFD-fed mice in both Barnes Maze test and Morris water maze test. The Aβ accumulation, tau-hyperphosphorylation, and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus were significantly inhibited by Spirulina platensis. Spirulina platensis also abrogated HFD induced gut microbial dysbiosis and unbalance of gut microbial metabolites indicating its modulating effect on the gut-brain axis. This study provides further evidence for the application of Spirulina platensis as functional supplement for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords

• Spirulina platensis
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Aβ production
• Tau-hyperphosphorylation
• Neuroinflammation
• Gut microbiota