Free water in grey and white matter relates to gut microbiota alterations with decreased butyrate producers in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment

Neuroinflammation contributes to the pathology and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and can be observed even in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stages, a prodromal phase of AD. Free water (FW) imaging estimates the extracellular water content that has been used to study neuroinflammation across several neurological diseases including AD. Recently, the role of gut microbiota has been implicated in the pathogenesis of AD. We examined the relationship between FW imaging and gut microbiota in patients with AD and MCI.