Dementia that has become a serious social problem with aging. It is estimated that one out of every five people over 65 will suffer in 2025 (2015, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare). And it is Alzheimer 's type dementia that is said to be difficult to treat once it develops, accounting for 60% in dementia.
Based on such a background, Morinaga Milk Industry is collaborating with the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agricultural Life Sciences Graduate School of Agricultural Life Sciences Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Professor Keiko Abe, and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Kanagawa Prefectural Institute of Industrial Science and Technology to develop Alzheimer's suppression by "bifidus bacterium A1" We released research results on the possibility of effect.
Close relationship between intestinal bacteria and health
The background of the research was a hot topic in recent years "cerebral intestinal correlation". The intestines are also called "second brain" because the brain and the intestines are connected by autonomic nerves and affect each other.
Actually, there are many people who experienced stomach pain or stomach hurting due to stress. This is because the intestinal flora (intestinal microbial flora) changes due to stress, and on the contrary if improving the intestinal environment may have a good effect on brain functions.
Although intestinal bacteria are said to have over 370 trillion or more, the work to the brain, such as improvement of mental state such as stress and anxiolytic effect, is becoming apparent from the research so far. Examining the intestinal flora of Alzheimer's disease patients has also shown that diversity is low and in particular the proportion of bifidobacteria is low.
Morinaga Milk Industry, which has been conducting research on bifid bacteria for over 40 years, should identify "bifidus bacteria A1" as strains possibly suppressing the onset of Alzheimer type dementia among the strains owned by the company Succeeded.
Improvement effect similar to dementia prescription medicine in experiment
According to Shimizu Kinchuda Basic Research Institute director of the Morinaga Milk Research Headquarters, three experiments were conducted using mice administered amyloid β in the brain, which is considered to be the causative agent of Alzheimer's disease.
One is the "Y maze test". This is an behavioral test that uses the habits of the mouse that it enters a different passage from the passage that entered just before it is used for the evaluation of spatial cognition. When I put the model mouse of Alzheimer's disease in the Y-shaped maze, I can not recognize the passage I entered once or the passage I entered just before, but I entered the same passage and the previous passage many times, but I took "bifidus bacterium A1" Significant improvement was observed in Alzheimer's disease model mice.
Another experiment is "passive avoidance test". Mouse is put in a box with bright room and dark room and electric stimulation is given when entering the dark room. In this experiment, the mouse memorizes the entry and stimulation in the dark room in association with each other, but again, significant improvement was observed in the model mouse ingesting "bifidobacteria A1" here, so that it was confirmed by inoculation with "bifidus bacteria A1" It is thought that the learning and memory ability was improved.
In "Y labyrinth test" and "passive avoidance test" as well, "Bifidus A1" has the same improvement effect as cholinesterase inhibitor which is a prescription drug for dementia, "Bifidobacteria A1" is amyloid β The possibility of improving inductive cognitive impairment has been shown.
In the third experiment, "hippocampus exhaustive gene expression analysis" focusing on the brain tissue "hippocampus" related to memory and learning ability. Analysis of the hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease model mouse often resulted in immune abnormality and excessive inflammation in the gene, but most of the gene remained normal in the same mice who ingested "bifidus bacterium A1".
It seems that inflammation is occurring chronically in the brain of Alzheimer's disease, but "bifidus bacterium A1" is thought to have the possibility of suppressing excessive immune reaction and intracerebral inflammation due to its anti-inflammatory action.