NeuroFood: Optimizing health effects of Swedish berries on the brain through food processing

The main goal of the proposed project is to optimize health effects of Swedish berries on the brain through food processing.

The project is based on results from my previous FORMAS grant for young research leaders (2016-2020):Lingonberries prevented atherosclerotic plaque development in mice by altering the gut microbiota composition, resulting in an improved, healthier bile acid profile in the gut, which in turn altered the hepatic gene expression of bile acid enzymes.

Subsequently, the blood lipid profile was improved due to the altered cholesterol and bile acid metabolism in the liver, which reduced the progression of atherosclerotic plaques in the heart.Fiber fractions of lingonberries increased the number of synapses in the hippocampal part of the brain.Blueberries reduced the amount of proinflammatory lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the brain tissue of mice (unpublished data).The newly discovered microbial DNA in the brain - coined by the applicant as the Neurobiome – may be involved in neurodegenerative disease initiation or progression, but is largely unexplored.

Thus, how dietary components can be used to modulate the Neurobiome for prevention of neuroinflammatory processes will be clarified in the project.

Preliminary results indicate that the Neurobiome composition differs between healthy mice and mice with Alzheimer´s disease and that blueberries were able to alter the microbial content of the brain (i.e. gram-negative bacteria) through as of yet unknown mechanisms.