Can Parkinson’s Disease Be Predicted From the Microbiome?

Check out this answer from Consensus:

The gut microbiome shows significant alterations in PD patients, with specific bacterial taxa consistently associated with the disease. These changes contribute to a pro-inflammatory environment that may exacerbate PD symptoms. Predictive models using gut microbiota data demonstrate potential for early diagnosis. However, methodological standardization is crucial for translating these findings into clinical practice.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. Recent research has focused on the gut microbiome’s role in PD, exploring whether alterations in gut bacteria can predict the disease.

Key Insights

• Alterations in Gut Microbiota Composition:
  • PD patients show significant alterations in gut microbiota, including increased levels of Lactobacillus, Akkermansia, and Bifidobacterium, and decreased levels of Lachnospiraceae and Faecalibacterium1 3 5.
  • Lower abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria, such as Lachnospiraceae and Faecalibacterium, is consistently observed in PD patients1 3 5 9.
• Pro-inflammatory Environment:
  • Dysbiosis in PD patients is linked to a pro-inflammatory state in the gut, which may contribute to the disease’s progression1 5 6 7.
  • Increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, such as TNF, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17A, and IFN-γ, are associated with altered gut microbiota in PD6.
• Predictive Potential of Gut Microbiota:
  • Predictive models using gut microbiota data, such as LASSO regression, have shown high accuracy in predicting PD, suggesting that specific bacterial taxa can serve as biomarkers10.
  • The presence of certain bacterial families, such as Enterobacteriaceae and Enterococcaceae, correlates with disease severity and motor impairment5.
• Methodological Variability and Need for Standardization:
  • Studies on PD and gut microbiota exhibit considerable methodological variability, affecting the comparability of results. Standardized protocols are needed to identify robust biomarkers2 4 8.

Can Parkinson’s disease be predicted from the microbiome?

Douglas B Kell has answered Likely

An expert from University of Manchester in Microbiology

The question is ambiguous. Of course it can be predicted. The question is with what accuracy (false positive and false negative, also different types, degree of severity, etc etc). The case for a microbial COMPONENT in PD is strong. See our open access review at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.12407 and many other papers at http://dbkgroup.org/publications/. Also ‘microbiome’ is ambiguous – which one (oral/gut/skin)?

Can Parkinson’s disease be predicted from the microbiome?

Kate Secombe has answered Uncertain

An expert from University of Adelaide in Microbiome, Cancer

There is evidence to suggest that the gut microbiome of people with Parkinson’s disease is different to people who do not have the disease (well summarised here). In addition, there are recognised links between Parkinson’s disease development and gut function. These may include symptoms such as constipation occurring years before symptoms of Parkinson’s occurring, and important proteins in Parkinson’s disease development in the brain being found in the enteric (intestinal) nervous system (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32092186/).

However, it has not been confirmed whether there is a specific microbiome signature unique to Parkinson’s disease across a large group of people, so I would suggest that it would be difficult to get an accurate and specific prediction of disease from microbiome testing right now. There is a lot of research going on in this area (examples here and here), which is showing some promising results. This suggests that this may be possible in future in combination with other testing, in some groups of people.

Can Parkinson’s disease be predicted from the microbiome?

Huifang Xie has answered Likely

An expert from Southern Medical University in Neurodegenerative Disease

In my opinion, it can be predicted, but there still needs more researches to work on to improve sensitivity and specificity. So far, previous studies have found the direct connection between changes in gut microbiome and PD. See our published studies at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2018.05.007 and many other papers online. However, lots of confounders can influence the composition of microbiome. How to identify their effect based on altered microbiome limits its wide use in clinical.

Can Parkinson’s disease be predicted from the microbiome?

Ted Dinan has answered Unlikely

An expert from University College Cork in Psychiatry, Microbiome, Neuroscience, Mental Health

The simple answer is ‘no’. Nonetheless, there are changes in the microbiota in Parkinson’s Disease.

Can Parkinson’s disease be predicted from the microbiome?

Hannah Wardill has answered Uncertain

An expert from University of Adelaide in Gastroenterology, Microbiome

This is an area of hot debate! Like many diseases, Parkinson’s is characterised by changes in the (gut) microbiome. Yet the question of the chicken or the egg really hasn’t been properly addressed, with much of the data remaining associative. There is a growing body of evidence to show that the microbiome is able to aid in communication between the gut and the brain, but there is certainly no consensus on the exact mechanisms. In Parkinson’s disease, communication between the gut and the brain is speculated to occur via the vagal nerve, with some bacteria able to produce neurotransmitters that control this pathway. How this actually results in Parkinson’s is unclear.

It is also thought that the gut microbiome, if in an “altered state”, can cause the lining of the gut to become leaky, allowing bacterial products access to immune cells in the gut resulting in inflammatory processes. Again, much of this mechanistic insight has been borrowed from others areas of neurogastroenterology, and applied speculative to Parkinson’s. We must also remember that not everyone who has a disrupted microbiome goes on to develop Parkinson’s … so what is it that determines this process, and does the microbiome simply serve to initiate the process in an predispose individual?