Original ResearchFull Report: Clinical—Alimentary TractConsumption of Fermented Milk Product With Probiotic Modulates Brain Activity
Section snippets
Study Design
The study used a single center, randomized, controlled, parallel-arm design. One intervention group (FMPP) and 2 control groups were utilized: a nonfermented control milk product (Control) to allow differentiation of specific treatment responses from those due to potential changes from increase in dairy ingestion or anticipation of improved well being, and a no-intervention group to allow us to control for the natural history of brain responses over time. Subjects were screened for eligibility
Results
Mean subject age was 30 ± 10.4 years (range, 18–53 years) and mean body mass index was 22.8 ± 2.7. Twelve female subjects completed intervention with FMPP, 11 with a nonfermented milk control product (Control), and 13 had no intervention. One FMPP subject was excluded for product noncompliance (negative stool B lactis quantitative polymerase chain reaction post intervention), 2 for antibiotic use. Six subjects were excluded for B lactis positive stool, either at baseline or in the Control or
Discussion
In healthy women, chronic ingestion of a fermented milk product with probiotic resulted in robust alterations in the response of a widely distributed brain network to a validated task probing attention to negative context. FMPP intervention-related changes during the task were widespread, involving activity reductions in brain regions belonging to a sensory brain network (primary interoceptive and somatosensory cortices, and precuneus), as well as frontal, prefrontal, and temporal cortices,
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Joshua Bueller, Brandall Suyenobu, Cathy Liu, and Teresa Olivas for technical and administrative assistance.
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Author names in bold designate shared co-first authorship.
Conflicts of interest These authors disclose the following: Kirsten Tillisch received grant funding for this project from Danone Research. Denis Guyonnet, Sophie Legrain-Raspaud, and Beatrice Trotin are employed by Danone Research. The remaining authors disclose no conflicts.
Funding This study was supported by Danone Research.