Tummy troubles don't just interfere with your day - they could affect your brain health. A new study has found that intestinal flora can affect brain protection in mice, according to PsyPost.org.
Hans Herbert, a biotechnology professor at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology, said knowing how gut bacteria affect the blood-brain barrier could "have important significance for the prevention and treatment of neurological disorders such as autism in humans."
The blood-brain barrier is a filter created by cells that line blood vessels in the brain. The barrier protects the brain from harmful substances that could travel via the bloodstream.
Herbert and his team found that mice that did not have adequate gut bacteria, or intestinal flora, during gestation (as fetuses) had a more porous blood-brain barrier, according to PsyPost.org. The permeability continued into adulthood.
If the correct bacteria were introduced into the gut during adulthood, the mice experienced an increase in the proteins needed to plug the leaks in the blood-brain barrier.
"There are hypotheses about how changes in the presence of gut microbiota can lead to problems in the function of the brain and nervous system," Herbert said. "It also has been hypothesized that autism is related to the blood-brain barrier function."
The findings were published on Nov. 19, 2014 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
