Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25202975›Full record

ArticlePloS one2014

Modulation of intestinal microbiota by the probiotic VSL#3 resets brain gene expression and ameliorates the age-related deficit in LTP.

Eleonora Distrutti, Julie-Ann O'Reilly, Claire McDonald, Sabrina Cipriani, Barbara Renga, Marina A Lynch, Stefano Fiorucci

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 116 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
116citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

116 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 227 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The microbiota-gut- hippocampus axis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022
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  4. Minocycline differentially modulates human spatial memory systems.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020
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56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Eleonora DistruttiS.C. di Gastroenterologia ed Epatologia, Azienda Ospedaliera di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Julie-Ann O'ReillyTrinity College Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Claire McDonaldTrinity College Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Sabrina CiprianiDipartimento di Medicina, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Barbara RengaDipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche e Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Marina A LynchTrinity College Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Physiology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Stefano FiorucciDipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche e Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Trinity College Dublin · IEUniversity of Perugia · ITAzienda Ospedaliera di Perugia · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The intestinal microbiota is increasingly recognized as a complex signaling network that impacts on many systems beyond the enteric system modulating, among others, cognitive functions including learning, memory and decision-making processes. This has led to the concept of a microbiota-driven gut-brain axis, reflecting a bidirectional interaction between the central nervous system and the intestine. A deficit in synaptic plasticity is one of the many changes that occurs with age. Specifically, the archetypal model of plasticity, long-term potentiation (LTP), is reduced in hippocampus of middle-aged and aged rats. Because the intestinal microbiota might change with age, we have investigated whether the age-related deficit in LTP might be attenuated by changing the composition of intestinal microbiota with VSL#3, a probiotic mixture comprising 8 Gram-positive bacterial strains. Here, we report that treatment of aged rats with VSL#3 induced a robust change in the composition of intestinal microbiota with an increase in the abundance of Actinobacteria and Bacterioidetes, which was reduced in control-treated aged rats. VSL#3 administration modulated the expression of a large group of genes in brain tissue as assessed by whole gene expression, with evidence of a change in genes that impact on inflammatory and neuronal plasticity processes. The age-related deficit in LTP was attenuated in VSL#3-treated aged rats and this was accompanied by a modest decrease in markers of microglial activation and an increase in expression of BDNF and synapsin. The data support the notion that intestinal microbiota can be manipulated to positively impact on neuronal function.

Indexed as

AgingAnimalsBiomarkersBrainHippocampusIntestinesLong-Term PotentiationMaleMicrobiotaNeuronsProbioticsRatsRats, WistarTranscriptomeBiomarkers

Identifiers

PMID25202975
PMCPMC4159266
OpenAlexW2036561191

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.