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Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental pathologies whose current treatment is neither curative nor effective. Anthocyanins are naturally occurring compounds abundant in blueberries and in other red fruits which have been shown to be successful in the treatment of several...

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Autores principales: Serra, Diana, Henriques, Joana F., Sousa, Fábio J., Laranjo, Mariana, Resende, Rosa, Ferreira-Marques, Marisa, de Freitas, Victor, Silva, Gabriela, Peça, João, Dinis, Teresa C. P., Almeida, Leonor M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9409076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36012528
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169259
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author Serra, Diana
Henriques, Joana F.
Sousa, Fábio J.
Laranjo, Mariana
Resende, Rosa
Ferreira-Marques, Marisa
de Freitas, Victor
Silva, Gabriela
Peça, João
Dinis, Teresa C. P.
Almeida, Leonor M.
author_facet Serra, Diana
Henriques, Joana F.
Sousa, Fábio J.
Laranjo, Mariana
Resende, Rosa
Ferreira-Marques, Marisa
de Freitas, Victor
Silva, Gabriela
Peça, João
Dinis, Teresa C. P.
Almeida, Leonor M.
author_sort Serra, Diana
collection PubMed
description Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental pathologies whose current treatment is neither curative nor effective. Anthocyanins are naturally occurring compounds abundant in blueberries and in other red fruits which have been shown to be successful in the treatment of several neurological diseases, at least in in vitro and in vivo disease models. The aim of the present work was to study the ability of an anthocyanin-rich extract (ARE) obtained from Portuguese blueberries to alleviate autism-like symptoms in a valproic acid (VPA) mouse model of ASD and to get insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of such benefits. Therefore, pregnant BALB/c females were treated subcutaneously with a single dose of VPA (500 mg/kg) or saline on gestational day 12.5. Male offspring mice were orally treated with the ARE from Portuguese blueberries (30 mg/kg/day) or the vehicle for three weeks, and further subjected to behavioral tests and biochemical analysis. Our data suggested that the ARE treatment alleviated autism-like behaviors in in utero VPA-exposed mice and, at the same time, decreased both neuroinflammation and gut inflammation, modulated the gut microbiota composition, increased serotonin levels in cerebral prefrontal cortex and gut, and reduced the synaptic dysfunction verified in autistic mice. Overall, our work suggests that anthocyanins extracted from Portuguese blueberries could constitute an effective strategy to ameliorate typical autistic behaviors through modulation of the microbiota–gut–brain axis.
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spelling pubmed-94090762022-08-26 Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model Serra, Diana Henriques, Joana F. Sousa, Fábio J. Laranjo, Mariana Resende, Rosa Ferreira-Marques, Marisa de Freitas, Victor Silva, Gabriela Peça, João Dinis, Teresa C. P. Almeida, Leonor M. Int J Mol Sci Article Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental pathologies whose current treatment is neither curative nor effective. Anthocyanins are naturally occurring compounds abundant in blueberries and in other red fruits which have been shown to be successful in the treatment of several neurological diseases, at least in in vitro and in vivo disease models. The aim of the present work was to study the ability of an anthocyanin-rich extract (ARE) obtained from Portuguese blueberries to alleviate autism-like symptoms in a valproic acid (VPA) mouse model of ASD and to get insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of such benefits. Therefore, pregnant BALB/c females were treated subcutaneously with a single dose of VPA (500 mg/kg) or saline on gestational day 12.5. Male offspring mice were orally treated with the ARE from Portuguese blueberries (30 mg/kg/day) or the vehicle for three weeks, and further subjected to behavioral tests and biochemical analysis. Our data suggested that the ARE treatment alleviated autism-like behaviors in in utero VPA-exposed mice and, at the same time, decreased both neuroinflammation and gut inflammation, modulated the gut microbiota composition, increased serotonin levels in cerebral prefrontal cortex and gut, and reduced the synaptic dysfunction verified in autistic mice. Overall, our work suggests that anthocyanins extracted from Portuguese blueberries could constitute an effective strategy to ameliorate typical autistic behaviors through modulation of the microbiota–gut–brain axis. MDPI 2022-08-17 /pmc/articles/PMC9409076/ /pubmed/36012528 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169259 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Serra, Diana
Henriques, Joana F.
Sousa, Fábio J.
Laranjo, Mariana
Resende, Rosa
Ferreira-Marques, Marisa
de Freitas, Victor
Silva, Gabriela
Peça, João
Dinis, Teresa C. P.
Almeida, Leonor M.
Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model
title Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model
title_full Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model
title_fullStr Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model
title_full_unstemmed Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model
title_short Attenuation of Autism-like Behaviors by an Anthocyanin-Rich Extract from Portuguese Blueberries via Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis Modulation in a Valproic Acid Mouse Model
title_sort attenuation of autism-like behaviors by an anthocyanin-rich extract from portuguese blueberries via microbiota–gut–brain axis modulation in a valproic acid mouse model
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9409076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36012528
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169259
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