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In a new study from Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson) and Western University, researchers have shown that probiotics can potentially protect honey bees from the toxic effects of pesticides.

Honey bees are critical to agriculture as they pollinate approximately 35 per cent of the global food crop, contributing an estimated $4.39 billion per year to the Canadian economy. Pesticides are currently used to maximize crop yields, but the most common pesticides, neonicotinoid insecticides, are a major factor in colony collapse disorder which is killing honey bee populations.

“The demise of honey bees would be disastrous for humankind. A current dilemma in agriculture is how to prevent bee decline while mitigating crop losses,” says Dr. Gregor Reid, Director for the Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotic Research at Lawson, and Professor at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. “We wanted to see whether probiotics could counter the toxic effects of pesticides and improve honey bee survival.”

The study was performed by trainees Brendan Daisley and Mark Trinder in Dr. Reid’s lab at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ontario. The researchers utilized fruit flies as a well-known model for studying pesticide toxicity in honey bees. Both insects are affected similarly by neonicotinoids, have very similar immune systems, and share many common microbes present in their microbiota – the collection of microorganisms found in each insect.

The researchers found that fruit flies exposed to one of the world’s most commonly used pesticides, imidacloprid (IMI), experienced changes to their microbiota and were more susceptible to infections. The flies were exposed to a comparable amount of pesticide as honey bees in the field.

By administering a specific strain of probiotic lactobacilli, survival among fruit flies exposed to the pesticide improved significantly. The mechanism involved stimulating the immune system through a pathway that insects use to adapt to infection, heat and other stresses.  

“Our study showed that probiotic lactobacilli can improve immunity and potentially help honey bees to live longer after exposure to pesticides,” says Daisley, an MSc candidate. He notes that probiotic lactobacilli could be easily administered through pollen patties, which are used by beekeepers to provide nutritional support and anti-pesticide effects to honey bees.

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Above: Brendan Daisley, an MSc candidate at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, working in Dr. Gregor Reid's lab at St. Joseph's Hospital

Over the winter months, honey bee mortality has been steadily increasing with ranges of 38 to 58 per cent in recent years, two to three times higher than the sustainable level. In Ontario alone, 340 bee keepers reported an abnormally high number of bee deaths, with over 70 per cent of dead bees testing positive for neonicotinoid residues (Government of Ontario).

“While cessation of pesticide use would be ideal, farmers currently have little alternative to obtain the yields that keep their businesses viable,” says Dr. Reid. “Until we can cease using pesticides, we need to find ways to protect humans and wildlife against their side effects. Probiotics may prove as an effective protective intervention against colony collapse disorder.”

The researchers hope to further study the mechanisms involved in this process and perform field tests on honey bee populations in Ontario.

The study, “Neonicotinoid-induced pathogen susceptibility is mitigated by Lactobacillus plantarum immune stimulation in a Drosophila melanogaster model”, is published in Nature’s Scientific Reports. The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Above: Dr. Gregor Reid, Director for the Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotic Research at Lawson, and Professor at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

On Friday, November 23, 2018, the Mental Health INcubator for Disruptive Solutions (MINDS) of London-Middlesex welcomed community members and stakeholders at Innovation Works for an update on the work of the MINDS team and announced the generous contributions of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. 

Local MPPs Peggy Sattler (London West) and Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre), with OTF Grant Review Team member Chris Harding were on hand to congratulate the MINDS members, including Pillar Nonprofit Network, and hear more about how the $75,000 OTF Grant will contribute to the mental health of transitional aged youth in the London and Middlesex region. 

As a research project through Lawson Health Research Institute, MINDS is taking a unique approach to improving the mental health of the community’s transitional age youth – people ages 17 to 25. 

A key aspect is to successfully work in partnership with youth to make sense of and address this complex challenge. 

“Today’s youth are unlike any generation before,” explains Dr. Arlene MacDougall, Director and Principal Investigator for MINDS. “Many of our processes, structures, models and concepts that we have used to serve, educate, employ, care for and communicate with youth in the past are no longer appropriate, relevant or effective for the youth of today.”

Dr. MacDougall is also Director of Research and Innovation for mental health care at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Assistant Director for mental health research at Lawson. 

Youth today are more diverse, connected and educated. Although many are reaping benefits from these qualities, others are facing significant challenges such as finding a full time job, being social excluded, negative effects of digital life including cyberbullying and physical health challenges like rising obesity. 

“Evidence from acute care and community sectors shows an increase in the number and acuity of mental health and addiction challenges experienced by our local transitional age youth,” states Dr. MacDougall. “We see this as a persistent and ‘wicked’ challenge – it is difficult to define and many factors contribute to it.” 

Over the last few years, across Canada and locally, there have been higher rates of emergency visits and inpatient hospitalizations for youth with mental disorders; an increase in the number of youth seeking help for mental illnesses; and, youth experiencing increased rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts and attempts. 

“We have been listening to local youth and their adult allies. We are hearing from youth with lived experience of mental illness and those who do not have a lived experience. And we are working on making sense of the upstream social drivers and components of poor mental health for transitional age youth,” explains Dr. MacDougall.

“On the flip side, we are exploring the potential action areas, levers and opportunities for shifting our community and our system to promote youth mental and emotional wellbeing – reaching them sooner and in the way they need.” 

As a social innovation lab, MINDS will use a collective impact framework to develop and test high impact solutions. This provides a structured process and creative environment where the team can prototype radical but possible innovations, while merging with youth-led participatory action research. 

“The collective impact framework enables us to can tackle deeply entrenched and complex social problems. It is an innovative yet structured approach to making collaboration work across government, business, philanthropy, non-profit organizations and citizens to achieve significant and lasting social change.” 

MINDS has the support of a diverse network of key individuals and partnering organizations including cross-sectoral service providers, community leaders, mental health advocates and youth from the region. This includes Lawson, St. Joseph’s, London Health Sciences Centre, Western University, mindyourmind, Goodwill Industries and CMHA Middlesex. The project has also received funding support from St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation.

“We are thrilled that many partners in the community are coming together to look for disruptive solutions that will create a lasting impact for youth,” explains Dr. MacDougall. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first social innovation lab dedicated to improving community mental health to be established in Canada.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. OTF awarded more than $120 million to some 700 projects last year to build healthy and vibrant communities in Ontario.