Lactoferrin alleviates Western diet-induced cognitive impairment through the microbiome-gut-brain axis

Lactoferrin (Lf) has been shown to benefit cognitive function in several animal models. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the control (CON), Western-style diets (WD), lactoferrin (Lf), and Lf + antibiotics (AB) groups. The Lf group was intragastrically administered with Lf, and the Lf + AB group additionally drank a solution with antibiotics. After 16 weeks of intervention, Lf improved the cognitive function as indicated by behavioral tests. Lf also increased the length and curvature of postsynaptic density and upregulated the related protein expression, suggesting improved hippocampal neurons and synapses. Lf suppressed microglia activation and proliferation as revealed by immunofluorescence analysis. Lf decreased the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and downregulated their protein expressions in the hippocampus region. Lf also inhibited the activation of NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasomes in the hippocampus. Meanwhile, Lf upregulated the expression of tight junction proteins, and increased the abundance of Bacteroidetes at phylum and Roseburia at genus, which are beneficial for gut barrier and cognitive function. The antibiotics eliminated the effects of long-term Lf intervention on cognitive impairment in the Lf + AB group, suggesting that gut microbiota participated in Lf action. Short-term Lf intervention (2 weeks) prevented WD-induced gut microbiota alteration without inducing behavioral changes, supporting the timing sequence of gut microbiota to the brain. Thus, Lf intervention alleviated cognitive impairment by inhibiting microglial activation and neuroinflammation through the microbiome-gut-brain axis.