We've updated our Privacy Policy to make it clearer how we use your personal data. We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. You can read our Cookie Policy here.

Advertisement

Finnish study establishes connection between gut microbiota and Parkinson's disease

Listen with
Speechify
0:00
Register for free to listen to this article
Thank you. Listen to this article using the player above.

Want to listen to this article for FREE?

Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.

Read time: 1 minute

Parkinson's disease sufferers have a different microbiota in their intestines than their healthy counterparts, according to a study conducted at the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH).


"Our most important observation was that patients with Parkinson's have much less bacteria from the Prevotellaceae family; unlike the control group, practically no one in the patient group had a large quantity of bacteria from this family," states DMSc Filip Scheperjans, neurologist at the HUCH Neurology Clinic.


The researchers have not yet determined what the lack of Prevotellaceae bacteria in Parkinson's sufferers means - do these bacteria perhaps have a property which protects their host from the disease? Or does this discovery merely indicate that intestinal dysfunction is part of the pathology? "It's an interesting question which we are trying to answer," Sheperjans says.


Another interesting discovery was that the amount of bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae family in the intestine was connected to the degree of severity of balance and walking problems in the patients. The more Enterobacteriaceae they had, the more severe the symptoms.


"We are currently re-examining these same subjects to determine whether the differences are permanent and whether intestinal bacteria are associated with the progression of the disease and therefore its prognosis," explains Sheperjans. "In addition, we will have to see if these changes in the bacterial ecosystem are apparent before the onset of motor symptoms. We will of course also try to establish the basis of this connection between intestinal microbiota and Parkinson's disease - what kind of mechanism binds them."


The researchers also hope that their discoveries could ultimately be used to develop a testing method which would improve the diagnostics in Parkinson's disease and perhaps finally find a way to treat or even prevent Parkinson's by focusing on gut microbiota.


Note: Material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki)   press release


Publication

Filip Scheperjans, Velma Aho, Pedro A. B. Pereira, Kaisa Koskinen, Lars Paulin, Eero Pekkonen, Elena Haapaniemi, Seppo Kaakkola, Johanna Eerola-Rautio, Marjatta Pohja, Esko Kinnunen, Kari Murros, Petri Auvinen. Gut microbiota are related to Parkinson's disease and clinical phenotype.   Movement Disorders, Published Online December 5 2014. doi: 10.1002/mds.26069