- A new study suggests that gut health may be linked to Parkinson’s disease.
- Researchers found that changes in the gut microbiome may appear years before symptoms develop.
- The scientists say this could help identify people at higher risk earlier and be used to advise prevention strategies.
More research is coming out that suggests there is a strong connection between gut health and the brain. Researchers from University College London examined the connection between gut health and Parkinson’s disease.
They found an association between the gut microbiome and Parkinson’s disease risk. While more research is needed, the findings suggest that shifts in gut bacteria may be an important early signal to watch in understanding and identifying the disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition that affects around 1.1 million people in the U.S. The neurodegenerative disease affects movement and can cause dementia.
While treatments are available to help manage symptoms, there is no cure, and the disease progresses over time. As a result, many researchers are focusing on identifying early warning signs and new preventative approaches.
The researchers analyzed gut microbiome data from three categories of participants:
- people diagnosed with Parkinson’s (271)
- people with a genetic risk factor GBA1 without symptoms (43)
- healthy controls (150)
They collected stool samples to identify different microbes in the gut and also measured the levels of these microbes to understand how common or rare they are in each person. This helped with understanding overall gut balance and finding patterns linked to disease risk or progression.
The researchers also assessed participants’ motor and non-motor symptoms, cognitive functioning, diet, and other health factors.
By combining clinical information with microbiome analysis, the researchers identified patterns associated with disease risk and progression.
The scientists found distinct differences in the gut microbiomes of individuals with Parkinson’s disease compared to healthy individuals.
The researchers said around 25% of the gut microbiome showed significant changes when comparing the group with Parkinson’s to the control group.
The scientists noted that the extent of microbiome changes was linked to disease severity in people with Parkinson’s. People with more advanced Parkinson’s had greater disruptions in their gut bacteria.
Based on non-motor symptoms (such as autonomic dysfunction and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder), the researchers classified part of the GBA1 group as “prodromal,” which is the pre-diagnostic phase of Parkinson’s.
They also found this subgroup had an “abundance” of these microbe species compared to the healthy group and to people in the GBA1 group who did not have non-motor symptoms.
These findings led the researchers to think that gut changes may begin years before symptoms begin. They think these patterns could eventually serve as an early marker of the disease.
Overall, the study may serve as a step towards finding a way to detect Parkinson’s disease sooner and implement both preventative and treatment strategies.
Julie Pilitsis, MD, PhD, Chair of Neurosurgery at the University of Arizona Tucson and Physician Executive in the Functional Neurosurgery program at Banner University Medical Center, spoke with Medical News Today about the findings. Pilitsis touched on the strength of the study.
“A major strength of this study is that these patterns held up across the globe,” said Pilitsis. “The researchers checked their findings against data from studies in the United States, South Korea, and Turkey and found similar bacterial shifts in Parkinson’s patients everywhere.”
Pilitsis said it is possible that the findings could create unneeded anxiety in people with the Parkinson’s genetic risk factor.
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Pilitsis said that the findings will not impact current medical management and that “more research is needed before these findings can be used in patient care for Parkinson’s disease, especially long-term research.”
