Health and Disability

Parkinson’s disease causes progressive damage to the brain leaving people suffering from the condition with tremor and difficulty moving. The scientists performed the research using mice that were genetically programmed to develop Parkinson’s disease via very high production levels of a protein called alpha-synuclein. That protein is associated with the type of brain damage that Parkinson’s patients suffer from.

The scientists discovered that transplanting bacteria from Parkinson’s sufferers into the mice led to more symptoms than if the bacteria was taken from healthy people. Dr Timothy Sampson, one of the researchers at the California Institute of Technology, said, “This was the ‘eureka’ moment, the mice were genetically identical, the only difference was the presence or absence of gut microbiota. Now we were quite confident that gut bacteria regulate, and are even required for, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.”

Researchers believe that the bacteria are releasing chemicals that over-activate parts of the brain leading to the damage seen in Parkinson’s sufferers. The bacteria breaks down fiber into short-chain fatty acids and the team believes that these chemicals trigger immune cells in the brain that leads to the brain damage and Parkinson’s symptoms.