Commonly prescribed multi-medication therapies exert sex-specific effects on Alzheimer’s disease pathology and metabolomic profiles in AppNL-G-F mice: Implications for personalized therapeutics in aging
https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.70081
“A combination of metoprolol, simvastatin, aspirin, paracetamol, and citalopram improved memory, reduced amyloid burden and neuroinflammation, and modulated AD-associated metabolomic signatures in male mice, with negligible effects in female mice. Substituting two cardiovascular drugs impacted emotional domains but worsened memory, predominantly in female mice. In males, monotherapies could not explain the combination effects, suggesting drug synergy, whereas in female mice, certain monotherapy effects were lost when combined.”
Fascinating. While it stands to reason, it’s still nice to see it confirmed: polypharmacy is a powerful tool which can bring either benefits or harm. Choosing wisely is key. Sex differences are real.
3 Likes
Stiv
#689
That good old ‘cognitive dissonance’, something our big brains have allowed us to deploy
L_H
#690
Very interesting.
Do you know which bacteria were used?
I could only find: “a human-origin probiotic cocktail containing 5 Lactobacillus and 5 Enterococcus”
Beth
#691
I was one of those people. I knew about the test for years, but because I live a healthy lifestyle and didn’t think there was anything to do for prevention, I had no desire to stress myself out when my actions wouldn’t change. The common belief is there is nothing you can do.
After meeting all of you, I learned there were actions to take (drugs etc), so I then happily took the test.
2 Likes
From the linked open-access paper’s “Materials and Methods” section:
The probiotics cocktail consisted of lactobacillus strains (L. paracasei D3.5, L. rhamnosus D4.4, L. plantarum D6.2, L. rhamnosus D7.5 and L. plantarum D13.4) and enterococcus strains (E. raffinosus D24.1, E. INBio D24.2, E. avium D25.1, E. avium D25.2 and E. avium D26.1).
There’s more about this cocktail in this paper (from a footnote): Human-origin probiotic cocktail increases short-chain fatty acid production via modulation of mice and human gut microbiome | Scientific Reports.
4 Likes
L_H
#693
interesting. the lactobacillus probably available from kefir. the GABA-producing enterococcus might be harder to get in the diet.
curious if anyone has any ideas
My understanding from general reading about probiotic bacteria is that health benefits and efficacy are often (usually?) specific to strains. In other words, I believe it’s not likely that other strains of L. paracasei, rhamnosus, plantarum, etc. will have the same effects as the strains in this study.
For example, the original (2018) paper on these particular strains says the following about the process of screening and selecting the 10 to be included in the cocktail:
L. paracasei D3-5 was selected over L. casei D3-1 and L. paracasei D3-2 to avoid the possibility of duplication of strains (these three colonies derived from the same infant) and also because it showed superior probiotic properties compared to the latter strains).
However, perhaps there are commercially-available probiotics that have been studied and shown to have some of the effects described in the 2025 paper: “improving intestinal tight junction proteins, reducing permeability in both gut and BBB, and decreasing inflammation in the gut, blood circulation, and brain”.
I asked the OpenAI o3 model in “Deep Research” mode to find such products. It’s response is available here: ChatGPT - Probiotics for Alzheimer's Symptoms.
1 Like
L_H
#695
I draw the line at drinking baby vomit😀
Actually, I don’t. Brain health is too important!.
2 Likes
RPS
#696
You might want to check your uric acid level.
I used to eat two tins of sardines per day but my uric acid levels went too high as a result. Dropped back to one tin and uric acid levels normalised.
4 Likes
A really good Stanford University podcast:
The secrets of resilient aging
In which Anthony Wagner and Beth Mormino share what they are learning from the Stanford Aging and Memory Study about the nature of healthy brain aging.
Stanford researchers Beth Mormino and Anthony Wagner share insights from the Stanford Aging and Memory Study, revealing how some people maintain cognitive health well into their 80s and 90s.
3 Likes
Work to keep stress levels low …
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Vitamin D revisited. Good data keeps coming in, when it comes to prevention of dementia.
3 Likes
New scientific articles highlight potential link between microplastics in ultra-processed foods and brain health
Groundbreaking collection of four articles in Brain Medicine examines alarming “spoonful” of microplastics in human brains, with possible links to depression and dementia
A collection of four papers published in the May issue of Brain Medicine synthesizes mounting evidence that microplastics from ultra-processed foods may be accumulating in human brains and potentially contributing to the rising global rates of depression, dementia, and other mental health disorders. The papers provide the most comprehensive analysis to date of how these tiny plastic particles might be affecting brain health through multiple interconnected biological pathways.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1084276
1 Like
