Gut Dysbiosis: A Review of the Effects of a High-Fat Diet on Iron Regulation and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Expression in the Brain-Gut Axis.

This study sparked further questions: Does gut microbiota affect brain BDNF directly through the gut-brain axis? Or is it indirect through an intermediate such as gut BDNF? Is there a relationship between gut BDNF and brain BDNF? It is known that brain BDNF is associated with learning and memory and is important for preserving cognitive abilities, however little is known about how gut microbiota affects it through the gut-brain axis or even its relation to other peripheral BDNF. Looking forward, we plan on measuring different protein levels, including that of BDNF, in the brains and guts across different cohorts of mice. The cohorts will differ in diet, age, and having the APP gene. From this analysis we hope to find more insight on the unknown mechanism that bridges gut microbiota to BDNF in the brain, which may ultimately help in finding ways to prevent cognitive decline seen in many neurological diseases.