Modulação de genes envolvidos no eixo intestino-cérebro pelo consumo de cepas probióticas

Abstract

It is now known that the intestinal microbiota modulates immune and hormonal functions in the body. Also, it influences the functioning of the nervous system, due to the bidirectional communication that occurs in the gut-brain axis. Specific bacteria in the intestinal microbiota have the ability to produce neurotransmitters, such as gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, produced from the decarboxylation of glutamate. As an alternative tool for studies in the context of psychopathological diseases, there is an increasing use of probiotic microorganisms in studies related to the gut-brain axis. Some probiotic strains such as Lactobacillus delbrueckii CNRZ327 and Lactococcus lactis NCDO2118 have the ability to synthesize important neurotransmitters such as GABA, which becomes an important tool in the development of alternative therapies to combat psychopathologies. Our work demonstrated that the long-term administration of probiotic GABA-producing strains increased the relative expression of genes related to the integrity of the epithelial barrier, such as Tjp1, Tjp2, Ocln and Muc2. The same is seen when we evaluate the cytokine genes linked to the activation of the communication of the Il-6 and Il-1O axis in the colon tissue, and the neurological response indicators evaluated in both the colon and hippocampus tissues, such as Grin2a, Grin2b, Tdo2, Ido1, GABAA1 and GABAA2. Thus, long-term administration of probiotic strains is able to modulate the gene expression of the markers evaluated in this work on the gut-brain axis.