{"id":16023,"date":"2020-08-13T13:22:55","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T12:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opa.org.uk\/?p=16023"},"modified":"2021-01-22T13:24:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T13:24:30","slug":"a-possible-gut-brain-connection-to-chemo-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023","title":{"rendered":"A possible gut-brain connection to \u2018chemo brain\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists looking for evidence of the gut\u2019s involvement in cognitive and mood problems related to chemotherapy treatment are testing their theories with the help of an unsavory rodent habit: eating feces.<\/p>\n

Because chemotherapy is so hard on the digestive system, causing diarrhea, nausea and anorexia, Ohio State University researchers are exploring the gut\u2019s potential role in the \u201cmental fog\u201d phenomenon known as\u00a0chemo brain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be that part of why cancer patients get chemo brain is because the gut is changed and is talking to the brain differently,\u201d said\u00a0Leah Pyter<\/a>, assistant professor of\u00a0psychiatry and behavioral health<\/a>\u00a0and an investigator in the\u00a0Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research<\/a>\u00a0at Ohio State.<\/p>\n

To test the possible relationship, Pyter\u2019s lab is examining chemo\u2019s effects on mice whose guts have been manipulated before treatment. One experiment involves feeding the mice antibiotics. The other relies on coprophagia \u2013 the universal practice among mice of eating their own and their roommates\u2019 poop. In effect, the mice undergo something resembling fecal microbial transplants.<\/p>\n

In a new study, Pyter found that housing mice who received chemo with untreated mice showed clear signs of changes to all animals\u2019 gut bacteria. The mice receiving chemo lost less weight if they had been housed with untreated mice \u2013 meaning eating feces from non-chemo mice changed their gut bacteria and partially reversed at least one side effect of the chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

Though any solutions are likely years away, the research goal is to identify potential ways to help fend off post-chemo cognitive problems and anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do find relationships between the gut microbiome and chemo brain, clinicians could manipulate patients\u2019 guts with probiotics or prebiotics or otherwise alter the diet in a way that promotes bacteria that seem to be beneficial to chemo brain symptoms,\u201d Pyter said.<\/p>\n

Pyter presented the work Wednesday (Oct. 23, 2019) at the\u00a0Society for Neuroscience<\/a>\u00a0meeting in Chicago.<\/p>\n

The mice in these studies never have cancer. Half receive six injections of chemo over 11 days, and control mice receive six injections of a placebo.<\/p>\n

In the first experiment, all mice were fed regular chow either with or without antibiotics mixed in before undergoing treatment with chemo or a placebo. Researchers followed by testing the animals for behaviors and signs of inflammation known to accompany chemo.<\/p>\n

Mice that received antibiotics and chemo had higher levels than untreated mice of proteins in their brains that signaled inflammation in areas linked to cognition and mood. In a test of movement, mice on chemo moved less than placebo mice \u2013 an expected sign of fatigue. In mice treated with both antibiotics and chemo, the fatigue was more pronounced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis suggests that if you screw up the gut and then have chemo, fatigue is even worse,\u201d said Pyter, also a member of the\u00a0Cancer Control Research Program at Ohio State\u2019s Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the next experiment, Pyter took advantage of an observation made by scientists who are part of the burgeoning body of research on the gut-brain connection: Rodents that are caged together tend to have similar gut and brain characteristics because they consume each other\u2019s feces.<\/p>\n

The model was simple. Four mice were housed in each cage. One cage contained mice on chemo, another contained mice receiving placebo, and the third contained two of each type of mouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that poop is only 10 percent of their intake, we didn\u2019t expect dramatic changes, but we hoped for subtle changes based on housing conditions,\u201d Pyter said. \u201cOur hypothesis was that the vehicle (placebo) mice would be fine, the chemo mice would be sick, the chemo mice in mixed housing would get better eating healthy poop and the vehicle guys would get worse by eating chemo poop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Body mass measurements told most of the story. Placebo mice living together were the biggest and the healthiest, and mice receiving chemo that lived together lost the most weight, suggesting sickness. The average weight of placebo and chemo mice living together was right in the middle.<\/p>\n

Pyter is following up with studies in which the ratio of treated and untreated mice, or vice versa, is 3-to-1. She also is running a parallel clinical study in breast cancer patients, taking fecal samples, measuring the immune response and gauging cognition with questionnaires before, during and after chemotherapy treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my dreams, I would take people\u2019s own microbes before chemo and give them back their own profile during chemo,\u201d she said. \u201cEven if it didn\u2019t ease chemo brain symptoms, if it reduced nausea and anorexia \u2013 any of those GI symptoms \u2013 I\u2019d be happy to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article is from OSU News –\u00a0https:\/\/news.osu.edu\/a-possible-gut-brain-connection-to-chemo-brain\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ohio State University researchers are exploring the gut\u2019s potential role in the \u201cmental fog\u201d phenomenon known as chemo brain…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA possible gut-brain connection to \u2018chemo brain\u2019 - The OPA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A possible gut-brain connection to \u2018chemo brain\u2019 - The OPA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ohio State University researchers are exploring the gut\u2019s potential role in the \u201cmental fog\u201d phenomenon known as chemo brain...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The OPA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-13T12:22:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-22T13:24:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dreamstime_l_1569916781-1-1024x824.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"824\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"OPA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"OPA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"OPA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/60271f69edd5545b63ee48b7c7dfcb9f\"},\"headline\":\"A possible gut-brain connection to \u2018chemo brain\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-13T12:22:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-22T13:24:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023\"},\"wordCount\":781,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dreamstime_l_1569916781-1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/opa-old.voidappsdev.uk\/?p=16023\",\"name\":\"A possible gut-brain connection to \u2018chemo brain\u2019 - 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