PROBIOTICS TREATMENT IMPROVES DIABETES-INDUCED IMPAIRMENT OF SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION: BEHAVIORAL AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL PROOFS FOR MICROBIOME-GUT-BRAIN AXIS

Diabetes mellitus-induced metabolic disturbances underlie the action of many systems including some higher functions of the brain such as learning and memory. Plenty of evidence supports the effects of probiotics on the function of many systems including the nervous system. Here we report the effect of probiotics treatment on the behavioral and electrophysiological aspects of learning and memory disorders. Diabetic rats were made through intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin. The control and diabetic rats were fed with either normal regimen (control rats recieving normal regimen (CO) and diabetics rats receiving normal regimen (DC), respectively) or normal regimen plus probiotic supplementation for 2 months (control rats receiving probiotic supplementation (CP) and diabetics rats recieving probiotic supplementation (DP), respectively). The animals were first introduced to spatial learning task in the Morris water maze. Then, in electrophysiological experiments, stimulating the Schaffer collaterals the basic and potentiated excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSPs) were recorded in the CA1 area of the hippocampus. Finally, the serum levels of glucose, insulin, superoxide dismutase and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were measured. We found that probiotics administration considerably improved the impaired spatial memory in the diabetic animals. The probiotics supplementation in the diabetic rats recovered the declined basic synaptic transmission and further restored the hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). While the probiotics administration enhanced the activation of superoxide dismutase and increased the insulin level of serum it decreased both the glucose level of serum and the 8-OHdG factor. From the present results we concluded that probiotics efficiently reverse deteriorated brain functions in the levels of cognitive performances and their proposed synaptic mechanisms in diabetes mellitus. These considerations imply on the necessity of an optimal function of the microbiome-gut-brain axis in the behavioral as well as electrophysiological aspects of brain action. (C) 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.