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Positive Effects of α-Lactalbumin in the Management of Symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Nutrients

To date, the involvement of α-Lactalbumin (α-LA) in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) refers to its ability to improve intestinal absorption of natural molecules like inositols, overcoming the inositol resistance. However, due to its own aminoacidic building blocks, α-LA is involved in various biological processes that can open new additional applications.

A great portion of women with PCOS exhibit gastrointestinal dysbiosis, which is in turn one of the triggering mechanisms of the syndrome. Due to its prebiotic effect, α-LA can recover dysbiosis, also improving the insulin resistance, obesity and intestinal inflammation frequently associated with PCOS. Further observations suggest that altered gut microbiota negatively influence mental wellbeing.

Depressive mood and low serotonin levels are indeed common features of women with PCOS. Thanks to its content of tryptophan, which is the precursor of serotonin, and considering the strict link between gut and brain, using α-LA contributes to preserving mental well-being by maintaining high levels of serotonin.

In addition, considering women with PCOS seeking pregnancy, both altered microbiota and serotonin levels can induce later consequences in the offspring. Therefore, a deeper knowledge of potential applications of α-LA is required to transition to preclinical and clinical studies extending its therapeutic advantages in PCOS.

NOTE: α-LA is high in whey protein

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Exploration of the Relationship Between Gut Microbiota and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): a Review

Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine and metabolic syndrome (MS) with a complex etiology, and its pathogenesis is not yet clear. In recent years, the correlation between gut microbiota (GM) and metabolic disease has become a hot topic in research, leading to a number of new ideas about the etiology and pathological mechanisms of PCOS.

The literature shows that GM can cause insulin resistance, hyperandrogenism, chronic inflammation and metabolic syndrome (obesity, diabetes) and may contribute to the development of PCOS by influencing energy absorption, the pathways of short chain fatty acids (SCFA), lipopolysaccharides, choline and bile acids, intestinal permeability and the brain–gut axis.

As part of the treatment of PCOS, fecal microbiota transplantation, supplementation with prebiotics and traditional Chinese medicine can be used to regulate GM and treat disorders.

This article reviews possible mechanisms and treatment options for PCOS, based on methods which target the GM, and offers new ideas for the treatment of PCOS.

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Intestinal Flora is a Key Factor in Insulin Resistance and Contributes to the Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Endocrinology

The key gut microbial biomarkers for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and how dysbiosis causes insulin resistance and PCOS remain unclear.

Objective: To assess the characteristics of intestinal flora in PCOS and explore whether abnormal intestinal flora can affect insulin resistance and promote PCOS and whether chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) can activate intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR), improving glucose metabolism in PCOS.

Results: Bacteroides was significantly enriched in treatment-naĂŻve PCOS patients. The enrichment in Bacteroides was reproduced in the PCOS mouse model. Gut microbiota removal ameliorated the PCOS phenotype and insulin resistance and increased relative FXR mRNA levels in the ileum and serum fibroblast growth factor 15 levels. PCOS stool-transplanted mice exhibited insulin resistance at 10 weeks but not PCOS. Treating the PCOS mouse model with CDCA improved glucose metabolism.

Conclusions: Bacteroides is a key microbial biomarker in PCOS and shows diagnostic value. Gut dysbiosis can cause insulin resistance. FXR activation might play a beneficial rather than detrimental role in glucose metabolism in PCOS.

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The vaginal microbiome – fertility and successful pregnancy

FX medicine

A specialised microbial community in humans is the vaginal microbiome. Successful human reproduction depends heavily on the correct balance of these microbes.

An optimal vaginal microbiome results in the production of lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide, maintaining a level of acidity that keeps pathogenic bacteria at bay.

When the vaginal community becomes disturbed, on the other hand, acidity decreases. Pathogenic or other opportunistic bacteria may then invade, which can cause bacterial vaginosis. This is best described as a state of dysbiosis rather than infection.

Research suggests that probiotic supplementation may be of benefit in maintaining homeostasis of the vaginal microbiome thereby reducing the risk of infection, dysbiosis and subsequent inflammation and immune dysfunction.

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Lactic Acid Bacteria Alleviate Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome by Regulating Sex Hormone Related Gut Microbiota

Royal Society of Chemistry

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disease across the world. Because gut microbiota play a key role in the pathogenesis of PCOS, probiotics may alleviate PCOS symptoms through the regulation of intestinal flora. The effects of 8 lactic acid bacterial strains on PCOS were investigated. Letrozole was used to produce a PCOS rat model and a 4-week-strain-intervention was performed. Diane-35, as a clinical PCOS treatment medicine, was effective in attenuating rats’ reproductive disorders.

Lactobacillus plantarum HL2 was protective against ovary pathological changes and restored luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and testosterone levels.

Bifidobacterium longum HB3 also alleviated ovary abnormalities and decreased testosterone levels.

Administration of lactic acid bacteria up-regulated short-chain fatty acid levels.

Based on 16S rRNA sequencing, lactic acid bacteria improved letrozole induced gut microbiota dysbiosis with different degrees.

Akkermansia, Roseburia, Prevotella, Staphylococcus and Lactobacillus genera were correlated with sex hormone levels. Some of the sex hormone-related gut microbiota were restored by treatment with the strains.

These results demonstrated that lactic acid bacteria alleviated PCOS in a rat model by regulating sex hormone related gut microbiota. Modifying gut microbiota by probiotic interventions may thus be a promising therapeutic option for PCOS.

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Gut microbial metabolites in depression: understanding the biochemical mechanisms

Microbial Cell

Gastrointestinal and central function are intrinsically connected by the gut microbiota, an ecosystem that has co-evolved with the host to expand its biotransformational capabilities and interact with host physiological processes by means of its metabolic products.

Abnormalities in this microbiota-gut-brain axis have emerged as a key component in the pathophysiology of depression, leading to more research attempting to understand the neuroactive potential of the products of gut microbial metabolism.

This review explores the potential for the gut microbiota to contribute to depression and focuses on the role that microbially-derived molecules – neurotransmitters, short-chain fatty acids, indoles, bile acids, choline metabolites, lactate and vitamins – play in the context of emotional behaviour.

The future of gut-brain axis research lies is moving away from association, towards the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the gut bacteria and depressive behaviour.

We propose that direct and indirect mechanisms exist through which gut microbial metabolites affect depressive behaviour: these include (i) direct stimulation of central receptors, (ii) peripheral stimulation of neural, endocrine, and immune mediators, and (iii) epigenetic regulation of histone acetylation and DNA methylation.

Elucidating these mechanisms is essential to expand our understanding of the aetiology of depression, and to develop new strategies to harness the beneficial psychotropic effects of these molecules.

Overall, the review highlights the potential for dietary interventions to represent such novel therapeutic strategies for major depressive disorder.

 

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Gut microbiota–bile acid–IL22 axis orchestrates PCOS

Nature

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by androgen excess, ovulatory dysfunction and polycystic ovaries1, and is often accompanied by insulin resistance2.

The mechanism of ovulatory dysfunction and insulin resistance in PCOS remains elusive, thus limiting the development of therapeutics. Improved metabolic health is associated with a relatively high microbiota gene content and increased microbial diversity3,4.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the gut microbiota and its metabolites on the regulation of PCOS-associated ovarian dysfunction and insulin resistance. Here, we report that Bacteroides vulgatus was markedly elevated in the gut microbiota of individuals with PCOS, accompanied by reduced glycodeoxycholic acid and tauroursodeoxycholic acid levels.

Transplantation of fecal microbiota from women with PCOS or B. vulgatus-colonized recipient mice resulted in increased disruption of ovarian functions, insulin resistance, altered bile acid metabolism, reduced interleukin-22 secretion and infertility.

Mechanistically, glycodeoxycholic acid induced intestinal group 3 innate lymphoid cell IL-22 secretion through GATA binding protein 3, and IL-22 in turn improved the PCOS phenotype.

This finding is consistent with the reduced levels of IL-22 in individuals with PCOS. This study suggests that modifying the gut microbiota, altering bile acid metabolism and/or increasing IL-22 levels may be of value for the treatment of PCOS.

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Prebiotic intake reduces the waking cortisol response and alters emotional bias in healthy volunteers

Psychopharmacology

There is now compelling evidence for a link between enteric microbiota and brain function. The ingestion of probiotics modulates the processing of information that is strongly linked to anxiety and depression, and influences the neuroendocrine stress response. 

This study found that taking a prebiotic called galactooligosaccharides for three weeks significantly reduced the amount of cortisol, a primary stress hormone in the body.

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Gut Microbes linked to estrogen breakdown in menopause

MedScape

Postmenopausal women with a more diverse population of gut bacteria may be more efficient at breaking down estrogen, a new study suggests. Because estrogen plays a role in causing breast cancer, researchers speculate a healthy bacterial population may lower the risk for cancer.

“The composition and diversity of the intestinal microbiota were associated with patterns of estrogen metabolism that are predictive of the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women,”

Estrogen is metabolized in the liver and in other tissues such as the breast, yielding fragments that are excreted in urine or, through bile, into the gut. Gut microbes can degrade these metabolites, allowing them to be reabsorbed into the bloodstream and further recycled in the liver. Dr. Fuhrman and colleagues suggest that women whose gut bacteria more efficiently process estrogen may have a lowered risk for breast cancer.

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Changing vaginal microbiome triggers and relieves atrophy

MedScape

Postmenopausal vulvovaginal atrophy is associated with age-related changes in the vaginal microbiome, with a shift from Lactobacillus-dominated strains in premenopause to a predominance of anaerobic organisms, new research shows.

“We have not yet identified specific interventions, but we are interested in pursuing personalized selections of probiotics and prebiotics for a given woman,” said lead investigator Rebecca Brotman, PhD.

“We have been advocating probiotics or prebiotics to improve vaginal health for almost 30 years,” said Gregor Reid, PhD.

“I 100% support the conclusions of this work. It is nice to see confirmation of work we published in 2011, with an aberrant microbiota associated with some cases of vulvovaginal atrophy,” Dr. Reid told Medscape Medical News (PLoS One, 2011;6:e26602).

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Sandra Ishkanes
Functional Medicine Practitioner
BSc MA DipION

sandra@gynecologic.dream.press
Brighton, UK

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