Modulation of Gut Microbiota through Mediterranean Diet as a New Insight for the Alzheimer's Disease Therapy

Despite the fact that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common form of dementia, its underlying pathogenesis has not yet fully known. As it is an intricate and multifactorial disease, finding a potential therapy intercepting its pathological process is still out of reach. With an increase in evidence of the success of gut microbiota modulation as a therapy to other diseases, one should consider the same possibility in AD. Therefore, this literature review focuses on exploring the possibility of dietary intervention as an innovative therapy for AD by modulating the gut microbiota composition, based on recent researches. The method used to assemble this literature review is by performing a comprehensive literature search with corresponding keywords. The result is that Mediterranean dietary intervention, characterized by the high intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidant nutrients, and vitamins, has shown to be beneficial for brain functions development, targeting the gut-brain axis. However, a higher level of evidence-based research is still needed to more confirm the findings in hope for a future implementation of this new insight as a therapy for AD and to unfold the gut microbiota role in it. Keywords: ‘Alzheimer Disease’, ‘Gut Microbiota’, ‘Gut-brain axis’ and ‘Mediterranean Diet’.