Hericium erinaceus Extract Exerts Beneficial Effects on Gut–Neuroinflammaging–Cognitive Axis in Elderly Mice

Abstract

Ageing is a biological phenomenon that determines the impairment of cognitive performances, in particular, affecting memory. Inflammation and cellular senescence are known to be involved in the pathogenesis of cognitive decline. The gut microbiota–brain axis could exert a critical role in influencing brain homeostasis during ageing, modulating neuroinflammation, and possibly leading to inflammaging. Due to their anti-ageing properties, medicinal mushrooms can be utilised as a resource for developing pharmaceuticals and functional foods. Specifically, Hericium erinaceus (He), thanks to its bioactive metabolites, exerts numerous healthy beneficial effects, such as reinforcing the immune system, counteracting ageing, and improving cognitive performance. Our previous works demonstrated the capabilities of two months of He1 standardised extract oral supplementation in preventing cognitive decline in elderly frail mice. Herein, we showed that this treatment did not change the overall gut microbiome composition but significantly modified the relative abundance of genera specifically involved in cognition and inflammation. Parallelly, a significant decrease in crucial markers of inflammation and cellular senescence, i.e., CD45, GFAP, IL6, p62, and γH2AX, was demonstrated in the dentate gyrus and Cornus Ammonis hippocampal areas through immunohistochemical experiments. In summary, we suggested beneficial and anti-inflammatory properties of He1 in mouse hippocampus through the gut microbiome–brain axis modulation.