Source: Thailand Medical News Jan 03, 2020 5 years, 7 months, 4 weeks, 18 hours, 40 minutes ago
Supplementing the body with
short chain fatty acids can improve
stroke recovery, according to research in animal models recently published in
JNeurosci.
Short chain fatty acid supplementation may be a non-invasive addition to
stroke rehabilitation therapies.
Post-stroke neuronal plasticity is altered by short-chain fatty acid treatment. Credit: Sadler et al., JNeurosci 2019
Short-chain fatty acids (
SCFAs) are fatty acids with fewer than six carbon atoms. Derived
from intestinal microbial fermentation of indigestible foods,
SCFAs are the main energy source of colonocytes (epithelial cell of the colon), making them crucial to gastrointestinal health as well.
SCFAs are produced when dietary fiber is fermented in the colon. Acetate, propionate, and butyrate are the three most common
SCFAs.
SCFAs and medium-chain fatty acids are primarily absorbed through the portal vein during lipid digestion,while long-chain fatty acids are packed into chylomicrons, enter lymphatic capillaries, then transfer to the blood at the subclavian vein.
SCFAs have diverse physiological roles in body functions. They can affect the production of lipids, energy and vitamins. Butyrate is particularly important for colon health because it is the primary energy source for colonocytes. The liver can use acetate for energy.
A new study also shows how the
gut microbiome influences brain health, including how the brain recovers from
stroke.
Short chain fatty acids, a fermentation product from the bacteria in our guts, are a key component of gut health but their role in
stroke recovery has not been explored till now.
Dr Sadler et al. added
short chain fatty acids to the drinking water of mice for four weeks before inducing a
stroke. The mice that drank the fatty acid water experienced a better
stroke recovery compared to the control mice, including reduced motor impairment and increased spine growth on dendrites a crucial memory structure. Additionally, the
short chain fatty acid-supplemented mice expressed more genes related to microglia, the brain's immune cells. Microglia activity could be responsible for increasing dendritic spines and improving
stroke outcome. This
relationship indicates
short chain fatty acids may serve as messengers in the gut-brain connection by influencing how the brain responds to injury.
The research team is conducting further studies to show a correlation between supplementation with
SCFAs and
stroke recovery so as to initiate human clinical trials as early as 2021, according to a spokesman who commented to
Thailand Medical News.
Reference : Rebecca Sadler et al, Short-chain fatty acids improve post-stroke recovery via immunological mechanisms, The Journal of Neuroscience (2019). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1359-19.2019 
