Mid-life crisis solved

Forget the Ferrari or facelift, could Cork scientists have the answer to a mid-life crisis?

New research published today (Thursday) has shown how scientists at the APC Microbiome in UCC have reversed the effects of ageing in middle age.

The new research suggests that prebiotic dietary fibres could be developed as a new strategy to promote healthy ageing by protecting brain function.

They found that by modifying the gut microbes by diet it can lessen inflammation in the brain of middle-aged male mice and may positively influence brain ageing and function.

Prebiotics are non-digestible fibres that promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestines. Inulin is one such prebiotic found in a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, including wheat, onions, bananas, leeks, artichokes, asparagus and chicory.

Prof John F Cryan, leader of this research, said: “We wanted to see whether an inulin enriched diet that can modulate the composition of the microbes in the gut could also improve brain health and wellbeing. The community of microbes in the gut changes with ageing. Many studies in ageing focus on very old animals and this may be too late to reverse the age-associated changes. We chose middle age in the hope that we could promote healthy ageing.”

Dr Marcus Boehme said: “Our research shows that a diet supplemented with prebiotics reversed microglia activation in the middle-aged mouse brain towards young adult levels.”