r/science • u/Miserable_Phase_2519 • 21h ago
Neuroscience New research shows that the gut bacterial metabolite imidazole propionate is strongly linked to accelerated cognitive decline and an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease by promoting brain inflammation, plaque buildup, and damage to the blood-brain barrier.
https://www.psypost.org/a-chemical-produced-by-gut-bacteria-may-accelerate-alzheimer-s-disease/60
u/Ok_Stranger_5161 13h ago
so for people who have an over abundance of strep mucan that produce this metabolite when breaking down histidine, it can trigger inflammation and cognitive decline? With the current protein boom, isn‘t it worth testing gut flora for strep mucans then?
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u/Willothewisp2303 9h ago
Probably not until they can do something about it.
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u/DeliciousDave4321 9h ago
DIM breaks the biofilm and wipes out strep mutans
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u/jackloganoliver 8h ago
Time to eat more broccoli and cabbage, and other fibrous green veggies. It's cheaper than beef by orders of magnitudes
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u/jawshoeaw 11h ago
Let me guess, it will be elevated by either something I love to eat, or be completely out of my control.
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u/LitLitten 8h ago
it’s actually linked to a specific bacteria that is predominant in the mouth. So just continue practicing good oral hygiene.
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u/TheWesternMythos 8h ago
I'd say it's a very good bet it's either something you can do something about or something you can't!
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u/martinaee 11h ago
Cool so… what do we do about it?
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u/jt004c 2h ago
oral hygiene and eat brocolli
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u/BreezyMcWeasel 1h ago
Specifically broccoli, or any cruciferous vegetable, including brussel sprouts or cabbage?
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u/WithEyesAverted 14h ago
Interesting, but again it's correlation and not causation.
Still it's an good additional piece of the puzzle
With the advant of new generation of whole body PET imaging where brain and gut simultaneous imaging is finally possible (previous whole-body technology is not simultaneous), maybe this pathway would be a good candidate to be imaged in-vivo
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u/TILYoureANoob 18h ago
So, an essential amino acid, which is a precursor to many compounds our bodies need and is found in any food with protein, is being linked to inflammation in the brain because it's also a precursor to histamine? That's like saying "eating food is linked to obesity."
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u/ThinksEveryoneIsABot 17h ago edited 14h ago
That’s not what this paper was saying? It’s the specific breakdown of the amino acid histadine, which is not a common breakdown pathway, that is the problem.
Is this metabolite needed for histamine? I can’t find anything to support that claim.
Edit: since the commenter hasn’t replied. This commenters approach seems to be: half read the article, say something made up, and make a snappy comparison.
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u/captfitz 15h ago
The paper specifically points out elevated levels, so it 's really like saying "eating too much food is linked to obesity". I don't think anyone would argue that.
This is a good lesson for Reddit in general when interpreting health information. Very few things are just good or bad, almost everything going on in our bodies exists in some sort of balance.
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