Food for the mind: The journey of probiotics from foods to anti-Alzheimer?s disease therapeutics

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease which finds its place in the top five reasons for mortality across the globe. Till date, there is no disease modifying therapeutic approach for AD. The pharmacological treatment does not provide anything except mere symptomatic relief. In the recent years, research on the Gut Brain Axis (GBA) has garnered keen attention of researchers worldwide. It may be possible that a disease modifying approach for AD has been present in nature since ages waiting to be discovered. This comprehensive review aims at establishing a concrete link between the consumption of probiotics and neuroprotection in AD. Fermented foods are deeply seated in the culinary history of every civilization. The multiple benefits associated with the usage of probiotics have become more like a legacy that is handed down from generation to generation. The use of probiotics to achieve therapeutic aim in cases of AD via the GBA has become a highly researched area. Probiotics have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. These have been found to hold significance in the field of food based anti-AD approaches. Probiotics have been reported to maintain the integrity of intestinal epithelium and the blood brain barrier. Also, the recently available knowledge about the molecular mechanisms behind the anti-inflammatory effect of probiotics in AD is promising. Adding more feathers to the hat, probiotics have been found to have remarkable antioxidant activity and cognition enhancing capability. All these factors make a very strong case in favour of probiotics to be explored more deeply as anti-AD therapeutics.