Common Gut Bacteria Linked to Parkinson's Disease

May 12, 2023

A common gut bacteria may play a role in the development of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Environmental factors as well as genetics are also suspected to play a role in PD cause, although the exact cause remains unknown.

"Our findings indicate that specific strains of Desulfovibrio bacteria are likely to cause Parkinson's disease," study investigator Per Erik Saris, PhD, from the University of Helsinki, Finland, says in a news release.

The study was published  online May 1 in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.

Screen and Treat?

It builds on earlier work by the researchers that showed that Desulfovibrio bacteria were more prevalent and more abundant in quantity in patients with PD, especially patients with more severe disease, than in healthy individuals.

Desulfovibrio is a genus of gram-negative bacteria commonly found in aquatic environments in which levels of organic material are elevated, as well as in waterlogged soils.

"Taking into account that aggregation of alpha-syn is a hallmark of PD, the ability of Desulfovibrio bacteria to induce alpha-syn aggregation in large numbers and sizes, as demonstrated in the present study, provides further evidence for the pathogenic (disease forming) role of Desulfovibrio bacteria in PD, as previously suggested," they add.

"Understanding the role of the gut microbiome in influencing PD is in its infancy. These are important steps to determining what ― if any ― link may be between gut bacteria and PD," Beck  said.

"Right now, there are no implications for the screening/treatment of carriers," James Beck, PhD, chief scientific officer at the Parkinson's Foundation said.

"It seems that a lot of people, whether with PD or not, harbor Desulfovibrio bacteria in their gut. More research is needed to understand what is different between the Desulfovibrio bacteria of people with PD vs those who do not have PD," Beck added.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. Published online May 1, 2023.