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43/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 43 out of 100. Disease mechanisms

Topic: Gut, metabolism and diet

Plain-language summary

The gut-brain axis plays a critical role in maintaining neuronal integrity and influencing the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we investigated how commonly consumed dietary fibers modulate gut microbiota, lipid metabolism, and AD pathology in 5xFAD mice. Male mice were fed either fiber-free (FF) or fiber-plus (FP; 1% cellulose, 2% pectin, 2% inulin) diets for five months, followed by integrated analyses of gut microbiota (16 S rRNA sequencing), fecal lipid metabolites (LC-MS/MS), and neuropathological and behavioral outcomes. FP diets markedly altered microbial composition, characterized by increases in Muribaculaceae, Ileibacterium, and Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group and reductions in Faecalibaculum and Coriobacteriaceae UCG-002. Fecal lipidomics revealed significant shifts in phospholipids and long-chain fatty acids, while short-chain fatty acid levels showed only modest, taxa-specific changes. Functionally, FP-fed AD mice exhibited reduced amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition, lower microglial activation, improved microglial morphology, and a decreased cortical and hippocampal Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio. Moreover, FP diets enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis, preserved synaptic protein expression, and improved cognitive performance in object recognition and Y-maze tasks. FP supplementation also mitigated the increased intestinal permeability observed in AD mice. Together, these findings demonstrate that dietary fiber modulates the microbiome-lipid axis and attenuates AD-related pathology through mechanisms extending beyond SCFA production, supporting dietary interventions as a promising strategy for AD prevention and therapy.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Zhao, Y., Taylor, C. M., Lukiw, W. J., & Bazan, N. G. (2025). Dietary fiber modulates gut microbiota and lipid metabolism ameliorating Alzheimer's pathology in 5xFAD mice. Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-26315-3

Vancouver

Zhao Y, Taylor CM, Lukiw WJ, Bazan NG. Dietary fiber modulates gut microbiota and lipid metabolism ameliorating Alzheimer's pathology in 5xFAD mice. Scientific reports. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-26315-3. PMID: 41298902.

BibTeX

@article{zhao2025-41298902,
  author  = {Zhao, Yuhai and Taylor, Christopher M and Lukiw, Walter J and Bazan, Nicolas G},
  title   = {{Dietary fiber modulates gut microbiota and lipid metabolism ameliorating Alzheimer's pathology in 5xFAD mice}},
  journal = {Scientific reports},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1038/s41598-025-26315-3},
  pmid    = {41298902},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-26315-3}
}

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Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Fecal lipidomics revealed significant shifts in phospholipids and long-chain fatty acids, while short-chain fatty acid levels showed only modest, taxa-specific changes.
Together, these findings demonstrate that dietary fiber modulates the microbiome-lipid axis and attenuates AD-related pathology through mechanisms extending beyond SCFA production, supporting dietary interventions as a promising strategy for AD prevention and therapy.

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 43/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multicenter collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 43 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Scientific reports)
Journal's citation record	— / 4	No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Laboratory or animal study (title names “5xfad”) — scores zero
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	— / 7	No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year	— / 5	No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year	— / 6	No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here	— / 6	Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited	— / 4	No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
Senior author's track record	— / 4	Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record	— / 3	No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score
Multicenter collaboration	— / 3	Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41298902)
Free to read	— / 2	Access not recorded — left out of this score
Points	24 / 56	Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 43 out of 100.
Total	43 / 100	—

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