Fungi in gut linked to higher Alzheimer's risk can be reduced through ketogenic diet

Date:
August 31, 2020
Source:
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Summary:
Specific fungi in the gut associated with a higher risk of
Alzheimer's disease and found in people with mild cognitive
impairment (MCI) can be altered in a beneficial manner by eating
a modified Mediterranean diet, researchers have found.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Specific fungi in the gut associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's
disease and found in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can be
altered in a beneficial manner by eating a modified Mediterranean diet, researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine have found.


==========================================================================
The small study is published in the current online edition of the journal EBioMedicine.

"Our study reveals that unique fungi co-living with bacteria in the gut
of patients with MCI can be modulated through a Mediterranean ketogenic
diet," said principal investigator Hariom Yadav, assistant professor
of molecular medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake
Forest Baptist Health.

In the single-center, randomized, double-blind crossover pilot study,
Yadav's team identified the organisms in the gut microbiome by sequencing
the fungal rRNA ITS1 gene in 17 older adults (11 with diagnosed MCI and
six with normal cognition) before and after a six-week intervention
of a modified Mediterranean ketogenic diet or the American Heart
Association Diet to determine its correlation with Alzheimer's markers
in cerebrospinal fluid and gut bacteria.

"Although we do not fully understand how these fungi contribute to
Alzheimer's disease, this is the first study of its kind to reveal their
role in our mental health, which we hope will ignite thinking in the
scientific community to develop better understanding of them in relation
to Alzheimer's disease," Yadav said. "It also indicates that dietary
habits such as eating a ketogenic diet can reduce harmful fungi in the gut which might help in reducing Alzheimer's disease processes in the brain."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Wake_Forest_Baptist_Medical_Center. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Ravinder Nagpal, Bryan J. Neth, Shaohua Wang, Sidharth P. Mishra,
Suzanne
Craft, Hariom Yadav. Gut mycobiome and its interaction with diet,
gut bacteria and alzheimer's disease markers in subjects with
mild cognitive impairment: A pilot study. EBioMedicine, 2020; 59:
102950 DOI: 10.1016/ j.ebiom.2020.102950 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200831131633.htm

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