. 2017 Jun 22;74(20):3769–3787. doi: 10.1007/s00018-017-2550-9

Table 1.

Summary of the effect of specific probiotics on neurological disorders

Probiotic strain	Model	Neurological effect	Reference
Neuroprotection
Clostridium butyricum	Male ICR mice (cerebral I/R injury; stroke)	C. butyricum improved neurological deficits Improved anti-oxidant capacity (increase in SOD and decrease in MDA levels) Decreased apoptosis (caspase-3 and Bax levels decreased, Bcl-2/Bax ratio increased)	[152]
L. helveticus R0052 B. longum R0175	WT mice stressed with water avoidance stress (WAS)	Probiotic treatment attenuated HPA axis and ANS activities in response to WAS Prevented WAS-induced decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis and expression changes in hypothalamic genes involved in synaptic plasticity	[153]
Multiple sclerosis
B. animalis	Rat model of EAE: autoimmune encephalomyelitis	Probiotic reduced duration of clinical symptoms Improved body weight gain Reduced cytokine expression	[154]
B. fragilis PSA	In vivo mouse model of EAE	Prophylactic treatment delayed EAE symptom onset and reduced symptom severity Reduced expression of cytokines (IL-17), IFNγ and RORγt Therapeutic treatment reduced disease severity	[155]
L. paracasei DSM 13434 L. plantarum DSM 15312 L. plantarum DSM 15313	In vivo mouse model of EAE	Probiotic treatment reduced neuroinflammation Induced regulatory T cells in mesenteric lymph nodes Enhanced TGFβ1 expression Combination of three strains suppressed progression and reversed clinical histological signs of EAE	[156–159]
L. casei L. acidophilus L. reuteri B. bifidum S. thermophilus	Mouse model of EAE: MOG35055 peptide in CFA containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis and pertussis toxin	Prophylactic treatment suppressed EAE development and delayed progression Inhibited proinflammatory Th1/Th17 polarization Induced IL-10 and/or Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells	[158]
Anxiety and memory deficits
L. helveticus R0052	WT and IL-10 deficient 129/SvEv mice on normal or Western-style diet	Prevented anxiety-like behavior and memory impairment in mice with proinflammatory state and western diet Decreased inflammation and fecal corticosterone in WT mice on western diet	[160]
L. helveticus L. rhamnosus	Streptozocin injected mice (diabetes model)	Probiotics improved the impaired special memory in the diabetic animals Recovered declined basic synaptic transmission Restored hippocampal long-term potentiation	[161]
L. rhamnosus R0011 L. helveticus R0052 L. casei Shirota	Female SPF mice	Memory impairment induced by C. rodentium infection was prevented by daily probiotic treatment	[162]
	Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome	Probiotic treatment significantly reduced anxiety symptoms	[163]
Neurodegeneration
L. fermentum NCIMB 5221		Strains of L. fermentum potently secrete FA, a molecule that has potent anti-AD activity FA reduced Aβ fibril formation, neuroinflammation and restores learning and memory deficits in AD models	[61, 164]
VSL#3	Aged (20–22 months) Wistar rats	Probiotic treatment attenuated the age-related deficits in long-term potentiation Decreased markers of microglial activation Increased expression of BDNF and synapsin Strong downregulation of genes involved in neurodegeneration (Alox15, Nid2,PLA2G3)	[165]
L. rhamnosus R0011 L. helveticus R0052	Myocardial infarction rats	Prophylactic probiotic treatment reduced the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase-3 proapoptotic activity in the amygdala and dendrite gyrus Akt activity was increased in similar areas	[166]
L. helveticus R0052 B. longum R0175	WT mice stressed with water avoidance stress (WAS)	Probiotic treatment attenuated HPA axis and ANS activation in response to WAS Prevented WAS-induced decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis and expression changes in hypothalamic genes involved in synaptic plasticity	[153]
C. butyricum	Mouse model of vascular dementia (permanent right unilateral common carotid arteries occlusion)	Significantly attenuated the cognitive dysfunction and histopathological changes Increased levels of BDNF and Bcl-2, decreased levels of Bax supporting anti-apoptotic state Induced Akt phosphorylation Reduced neuronal apoptosis	[167]