A probiotic bacterium called Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HA-114 prevents neurodegeneration in the C. elegans worm, an animal model used to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
That’s the finding of a new study at Canada’s CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) led by Université de Montréal neuroscience professor Alex Parker and published in the journal Communications Biology.
He and his team suggest that the disruption of lipid metabolism contributes to this cerebral degeneration, and show that the neuroprotection provided by HA-114, a non-commercial probiotic, is unique compared to other strains of the same bacterial family tested.
“When we add it to the diet of our animal model, we notice that it suppresses the progression of motor neuron degeneration,” said Parker, the study’s lead author. “The particularity of HA-114 resides in its fatty acid content.”
By enabling the…
