2023-12-14 09:02:46
The research is led by Natalia Palacios, associate professor of public health at UMass Lowell, who explores here with her team how the gut microbiome contributes to the risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. The objective is to achieve earlier detection and new treatments for these diseases, which affect millions of patients around the world, and therefore the prevalence will only increase with the aging of populations.
The complete analysis of the genetic material found in the intestine of 420 participants in 2 large epidemiological studies finds that:
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healthy anti-inflammatory bacteria are found at much lower levels in Parkinson’s patients;
- “These species of bacteria are known for their role in reducing inflammation in the gut and this depletion supports the previously suggested link between gut inflammation and Parkinson’s disease”specify the researchers;
- these changes are in fact also noticeable in participants with early signs of Parkinson’s disease, which can appear several years before classic motor symptoms;
- Being able to observe and detect these changes before diagnosis suggests that in the future, the gut microbiome might serve as a reservoir of biomarkers to identify the very early phases of the disease.
These results, which highlight the essential role of the gut-brain axis, might revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases, early detection of which is not only the key to the development of new therapies but also the condition for the success of the treatment.
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#ALZHEIMER #PARKINSON #biomarkers #hidden #microbiota
