Study Will Examine Gut Bacteria for Early Signs of the Disease
07/07/2017
By Karen Angelo
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Asst. Prof. of Public Health Natalia Palacios a $2.1 million, five-year grant to study the relationship between gut bacteria and the risk of Parkinson鈥檚 disease.听
鈥淭his will be the largest study to date on the gut microbiome and Parkinson鈥檚 disease,鈥� says Palacios. 鈥淢y hope is that this research will advance our understanding of how the human gut microbiome contributes to the onset of Parkinson鈥檚.鈥澨�
Nearly a million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson鈥檚 disease, the cause of which is not known. With no cure, Parkinson鈥檚 is treated with medication and surgery that only helps manage the disease symptoms that include tremors, impaired balance and slowness of movement.听
Examining the Gut for Early Signs of Parkinson鈥檚 Disease听
Current research shows that years before people with Parkinson鈥檚 disease are diagnosed, the vast majority of them of them experienced constipation and other types gastrointestinal problems. Recently, scientists have discovered that certain proteins associated with Parkinson are found in the gut before they can be seen in the brain.听
In this new study, the research team will compare the gut bacteria of people in the earliest stages of the disease with those without the disease. If a specific bacterial pattern does exist for people in the early stages of the disease, it may be possible for people to be diagnosed earlier and targeted for clinical trials of new drugs. Currently, when Parkinson鈥檚 patients are recruited into clinical trials, their disease is likely too advanced for the drugs to have an effect.To conduct the study, Palacios will collect stool samples from groups of participants in two large ongoing epidemiological studies. After sequencing the genes of their gut bacteria, the research team will compare the bacteria of people in the earliest stages of the disease with people who are healthy.听
鈥淎 better understanding of the role that the microbiome plays in Parkinson鈥檚 disease will hopefully bring us closer to a cure for this devastating disease,鈥� says Palacios.听
Another goal of the research is to better understand why previous studies have shown that people who drink coffee and smoke may be protected from getting Parkinson鈥檚 disease.听
鈥淧rior studies have shown that smokers and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Parkinson鈥檚, but we don鈥檛 know why,鈥� says Palacios. 鈥淲e will study whether smoking and coffee might only be protective among people with a certain bacterial composition in their gut, and if information about the gut bacteria might help us better understand."