Lactobacillus acidophilus exerts neuroprotective effects in MPTP mice: potential links to the gut microbiota and...

Previous studies have shown that Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) improves gut microbiota, which is believed to play a role in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis by modulating neuroinflammation. Therefore, we investigated the role of LA in mice with PD induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). To explore microbial-based interventions for Parkinson's disease (PD), we examined whether Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) protects against neurodegeneration via the gut-brain axis. In MPTP-induced PD mice, LA treatment improved motor function, increased TH+ neurons, and suppressed neuroinflammation. Crucially, LA restored gut microbiota ecology and enhanced the gut-brain signaling pathway, evidenced by increased colonic GLP-1/FFAR2/FFAR3 and brain GLP-1 receptor levels, alongside improved gut barrier integrity. Our findings demonstrate that LA alleviates PD pathology by concurrently targeting the gut microbiota and the GLP-1 receptor pathway, underscoring a viable gut-brain axis strategy for neuroprotection.