HARNESSING THE THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF SYNBIOTIC CONSUMPTION: MITIGATING STRESS AND ENHANCING NEURAL PLASTICITY IN MALE SPRAGUE DAWLEY RATS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v21i4.1857Keywords:
BDNF, Cortisol, HPA Axis, Stress, SynbioticsAbstract
Background: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulates homeostasis, and chronic stress triggers cortisol release, contributing to metabolic, cardiovascular, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) plays a vital role in neural plasticity and stress adaptation. Objective was to determine and correlate serum cortisol and BDNF levels in rats consuming standard, probiotic, and synbiotic diets under stressors of immobilization and fasting. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad. Fifty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into Control (Group A) and Interventional (Group B; subgroups B1–B4). Group A received a standard lab diet, whereas subgroups B1–B4 were exposed to immobilization and fasting stress with varying dietary interventions: standard diet (B1, B2), probiotic yogurt (B3), and synbiotic yogurt+legumes (B4). Serum cortisol and BDNF were measured at baseline, 4, and 10 weeks using ELISA. Data were analysed with SPSS-21 and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: After 10 weeks, Group B3 and B4 showed significantly decreased cortisol (p<0.001) and increased BDNF (p<0.001) compared to Group B2. A strong negative correlation was found between cortisol and BDNF (r= -0.738, p<0.001). Conclusion: Synbiotic supplementation mitigated stress-induced neuroendocrine changes by lowering cortisol and elevating BDNF levels, suggesting that dietary modulation with probiotics and synbiotics may improve stress resilience and neural health.
Pak J Physiol 2025;25(4):22–5, DOI: https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v21i4.1857
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Copyright (c) 2025 Aysha Mushtaq, Shazia Ali, Tooba Jamal, Shagufta Feroz, Ayesha Zafar Rajpoot, Mehwish Ashfaq
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