scholarly journals Differences in the Composition of Gut Microbiota between Patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Healthy Controls: A Cohort Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 5698
Author(s):  
Barbara Zapała ◽  
Tomasz Stefura ◽  
Magdalena Wójcik-Pędziwiatr ◽  
Radosław Kabut ◽  
Marta Bałajewicz-Nowak ◽  
...  

Gut microbiome and colonic inflammation can be associated with the predisposition and progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The presented study aimed to compare gastrointestinal microbiota composition between patients diagnosed with PD and treated only with Levodopa to healthy controls. In this prospective study, patients were recruited in 1 academic hospital from July 2019 to July 2020. The detailed demographic data and medical history were collected using a set of questionnaires. Fecal samples were obtained from all participants. Next-Generation Sequencing was used to assess the microbiota composition. The endpoint was the difference in composition of the gut microbiota. In this study, we enrolled 27 hospitalized PD patients with well-controlled symptoms. The control group included 44 healthy subjects matched for age. Among PD patients, our results presented a higher abundance of Bacteroides phylum, class Corynebacteria among phylum Actinobacteria, class Deltaproteobacteria among phylum Proteobacteria, and genera such as Butyricimonas, Robinsoniella, and Flavonifractor. The species Akkermansia muciniphila, Eubacterium biforme, and Parabacteroides merdae were identified as more common in the gut microbiota of PD patients. In conclusion, the patients diagnosed with PD have significantly different gut microbiota profiles in comparison with healthy controls.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Palacios ◽  
Anas Hannoun ◽  
Julie Flahive ◽  
Doyle Ward ◽  
Kelsey Goostrey ◽  
...  

Background: The impact of Levodopa on the gut microbiota of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients has not been sufficiently addressed.Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the impact of Levodopa initiation on the gut microbiota composition of 19 PD patients who had not previously been exposed to Levodopa. Patients provided two stool samples prior to and two samples 90 days after starting Levodopa. Motor impairment (MDS-UPDRS Part III), diet, and other patient characteristics were assessed. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to characterize the microbiota. We examined, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, the associations between Levodopa use and alpha and beta diversity and performed feature-wise, multivariate modeling to identify taxa associated longitudinally with Levodopa use and with improvement in motor function after Levodopa administration.Results: We did not observe significant differences in alpha or beta diversity before vs. after initiation of Levodopa. In longitudinal feature-wise analyses, at the genus level, no taxa were significantly associated with Levodopa use after false discovery rate (FDR) correction (q < 0.05). We observed a marginally lower relative abundance of bacteria belonging to Clostridium group IV in PD patients who experienced a medium or large improvement in motor impairment in response to Levodopa compared to those with a small response [β = −0.64 (SE: 0.18), p-trend: 0.00015 p-FDR: 0.019].Conclusions: In this study, Levodopa was not associated with changes in microbiota composition in this longitudinal analysis. The association between abundance of Clostridium group IV and short-term motor symptom response to Levodopa is preliminary and should be investigated in larger, longer-term studies, that include a control group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1616
Author(s):  
Natalia S. Rozas ◽  
Gena D. Tribble ◽  
Cameron B. Jeter

Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are at increased risk of aspiration pneumonia, their primary cause of death. Their oral microbiota differs from healthy controls, exacerbating this risk. Our goal was to explore if poor oral health, poor oral hygiene, and dysphagia status affect the oral microbiota composition of these patients. In this cross-sectional case-control study, the oral microbiota from hard and soft tissues of patients with PD (n = 30) and age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls (n = 30) was compared using 16S rRNA gene sequencing for bacterial identification. Study participants completed dietary, oral hygiene, drooling, and dysphagia questionnaires, and an oral health screening. Significant differences in soft tissue beta-diversity (p < 0.005) were found, and a higher abundance of opportunistic oral pathogens was detected in patients with PD. Factors that significantly influenced soft tissue beta-diversity and microbiota composition include dysphagia, drooling (both p < 0.05), and salivary pH (p < 0.005). Thus, patients with PD show significant differences in their oral microbiota compared to the controls, which may be due, in part, to dysphagia, drooling, and salivary pH. Understanding factors that alter their oral microbiota could lead to the development of diagnostic and treatment strategies that improve the quality of life and survivability of these patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-111
Author(s):  
Mashael Al-Namaeh

Background: A key manifestation of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is visual impairment. Cognitive impairment has been found to overlap with convergence insufficiency (CI) in patients with PD and is associated with significantly greater near point convergence (NPC) distance. Difficulty in reading and diplopia were the most common symptoms of CI in PD. The prevalence of CI is greater among patients with PD. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the relationship between PD and CI. Methods: Studies that had included data on CI, NPC, or both were selected by searching PubMed/MEDLINE and clinicaltrails.gov, without any timeline or language limitation. The following terms were used in PubMed/MEDLINE search: ‘Clinical Trials’, ‘Parkinson’s Disease’, and ‘Convergence Insufficiency’. For clinical trials.gov database, the terms ‘Parkinson’s Disease’, ‘Convergence Insufficiency’, and ‘Completed Studies’ were used. Only those studies with control subjects were included. PubMed/MEDLINE search yielded 1,563 articles, but no article was found in the clinical trails.gov search. Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria, among which nine articles were selected as they had data on CI or NPC distance (cm), and PD.   Results: Overall, there were 1,563 articles; among them, 12 articles met the inclusion criteria. Nine articles were selected based on their data concerning CI or NPC distance (cm) and PD. Relative to the control group, the PD group had high CI. In addition, PD group showed increase in NPC distance than the control group. Conclusions: These data suggest that the patients with PD had an increased likelihood of developing CI visual symptoms, and increased NPC distance than healthy controls. These findings indicate that regular eye examination is very important for patients with PD.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina Rua ◽  
Claire O'Callaghan ◽  
Rong Ye ◽  
Frank Hubert Hezemans ◽  
Luca Passamonti ◽  
...  

Background: Vulnerability of the substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease is associated with ferric overload, leading to neurodegeneration with cognitive and motor decline. Here, we quantify iron and neuromelanin-related markers in vivo using ultra-high field 7-Tesla MRI, and examine the clinical correlates of these imaging assessments. Methods: Twenty-five people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease and twenty-six healthy controls underwent high-resolution imaging at 7-Tesla with a T2*-weighted sequence (measuring susceptibility-χ and R2*, sensitive to iron) and a magnetization transfer-weighted sequence (MT-w, sensitive to neuromelanin). From an independent control group (N=29), we created study-specific regions-of-interest for five neuromelanin- and/or iron-rich subregions within the substantia nigra. Mean R2*, susceptibility-χ and their ratio, as well as the MT-w contrast-to-noise ratio (MT-CNR) were extracted from these regions and compared between groups. We then tested the relationships between these imaging metrics and clinical severity. Results: People with Parkinson's disease showed a significant ~50% reduction in MT-CNR compared to healthy controls. They also showed a 1.2-fold increase in ferric iron loading (elevation of the ΔR2*/Δχ ratio from 0.19±0.058ms/ppm to 0.22±0.059ms/ppm) in an area of the substantia nigra identified as having both high neuromelanin and susceptibility MRI signal in healthy controls. In this region, the ferric-to-ferrous iron loading was associated with disease duration (β=0.0072, pFDR=0.048) and cognitive impairment (β=-0.0115, pFDR=0.048). Conclusions: T2*-weighted and MT-weighted high-resolution 7T imaging markers identified neurochemical consequences of Parkinson's disease, in overlapping but not-identical regions. These changes correlated with non-motor symptoms.


Author(s):  
Eman M. Khedr ◽  
Anwar M. Ali ◽  
Enas Deaf ◽  
Hebatallah M. Hassan ◽  
Ahmed Alaa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. There is accumulating evidence that link gut microbiota to symptomatology and pathophysiology of PD. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of gut microbiota and its association with PD and identify the effect of environmental factors on gut microbiota. This case–control study included 46 patients diagnosed as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and 31 healthy volunteers age and sex matched. Detailed history including age of onset, duration of disease, environmental risk factors, diet data, treatment, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) domain of Non‐Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS) were assessed. After extraction of bacterial DNA from the fecal samples, bacterial abundance was quantified by qPCR using 16S rRNA group-specific primers. Results Significant high abundance of Clostridium cluster IV, Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium, and lactic acid bacteria were found in the PD group compared with the control group (P < 0.001, 0.04, 0.02 and < 0.001, respectively), while Firmicutes were significantly less abundant in the PD group (P < 0.001) compared with the control group. The naive PD patients had significant abundance of Bifidobacterium, and lactic acid compared with control group. Interestingly, Akkermansia was more abundant in treated than untreated patients. There were significant associations between pesticide exposure and Bifidobacterium (P = 0.002), while no significant correlations between different gut microbiota and demographic, environment data, different rating scores or dominant type of PD. There was a significant negative correlation between the Bifidobacterium with the duration of illness (P = 0.012). Conclusion The present study highlighted a significant connection between PD and levels of certain types of gut microbiota, in support of a possible link between gut microbiota and a neurodegenerative cascade of PD.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Sarah Vascellari ◽  
Marta Melis ◽  
Vanessa Palmas ◽  
Silvia Pisanu ◽  
Alessandra Serra ◽  
...  

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a clinically heterogenic disorder characterized by distinct clinical entities. Most studies on motor deficits dichotomize PD into tremor dominant (TD) or non-tremor dominant (non-TD) with akinetic-rigid features (AR). Different pathophysiological mechanisms may affect the onset of motor manifestations. Recent studies have suggested that gut microbes may be involved in PD pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the gut microbiota and metabolome composition in PD patients in relation to TD and non-TD phenotypes. In order to address this issue, gut microbiota and the metabolome structure of PD patients were determined from faecal samples using 16S next generation sequencing and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry approaches. The results showed a reduction in the relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae, Blautia, Coprococcus, Lachnospira, and an increase in Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia and Serratia linked to non-TD subtypes. Moreover, the levels of important molecules (i.e., nicotinic acid, cadaverine, glucuronic acid) were altered in relation to the severity of phenotype. We hypothesize that the microbiota/metabolome enterotypes associated to non-TD subtypes may favor the development of gut inflammatory environment and gastrointestinal dysfunctions and therefore a more severe α-synucleinopathy. This study adds important information to PD pathogenesis and emphasizes the potential pathophysiological link between gut microbiota/metabolites and PD motor subtypes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (5_suppl5) ◽  
pp. 2325967117S0020
Author(s):  
David Parker ◽  
Eugene Wong

Introduction and Aims: There is considerable debate and a paucity of evidence regarding whether Total Knee Replacement (TKR) is of benefit in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and knee osteoarthritis, and whether PD would compromise the outcome of TKR. Therefore, we aimed to compare the effect of TKR on range of motion and Oxford Knee Scores (OKS) between PD patients and age-matched controls at 1 year follow-up. Methods: A cohort of 45 knees from 35 patients was identified as having a confirmed diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and received a primary TKR between January 2004 and December 2015, which was extracted from a clinical database (Socrates, v3.5, Orthosoft, AUS) maintained by two orthopaedic surgeons in two hospitals. An age-matched control group (mean age: 73 years) of 45 knees from 41 patients without Parkinson’s disease was randomly computer-generated from the same database. The indication for TKR in both groups was osteoarthritis, an independent assessment of each knee to meet appropriate selection criteria for TKR, as well as preoperative physician review for medical comorbidities. Outcome measures analysed in the study were the difference in pre-operative range of motion (RoM) and 12-point Oxford Knee Scores and at 1-year follow-up respectively. Postoperative complications and revisions were also recorded during the follow-up period. Results: In the PD group, RoM improved from a mean of 100 degrees preoperatively to 114 degrees at 12 months, compared to the control group which improved from a mean of 102 degrees to 114 degrees respectively. OKS in the Parkinson’s group improved from a mean of 23 preoperatively to 38 at 12 months compared to 23 preoperatively and 40 at 12 months in the control group. After adjusting for sex, we found that the difference in the ROM and OKS between the Parkinson’s and control groups was not significantly different (p = 0.9725; 0.6450 respectively). Furthermore, in all Parkinson’s patients the minimal clinically important difference for OKS (≥6) was achieved at 1-year follow-up (4). There were no mortalities during the study follow-up period, with 4 complications in the PD group (DVT, superficial infection) and two in the control group (DVT, bowel pseudo-obstruction). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that TKR provides comparable outcomes with regard to range of movement and ambulatory function in patients with Parkinson’s disease who are also suffering from severe osteoarthritis. We also feel that TKR has an acceptable complication profile in this subgroup of patients. The presence of PD does not appear to compromise the outcome of TKR in these patients, and the same indications for TKR should therefore apply as for the general OA population.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Christophe Corvol ◽  
Sarah Bujac ◽  
Stephanie Carvalho ◽  
Bethan Clarke ◽  
Jacqueline Marovac ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundAlthough advances in the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) have led to improvements in classification and diagnosis and most importantly to new therapies, the unmet medical needs remain significant due to high treatment failure rates. The AETIONOMY project funded by the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) aims at using multi-OMICs and bioinformatics to identify new classifications for NDDs based on common molecular pathophysiological mechanisms in view of improving the availability of personalised treatments.ObjectivesThe purpose of the AETIONOMY cross-sectional study is to validate novel patient classification criteria provided by these tools.MethodsThis was a European multi centre, cross-sectional, clinical study conducted at 6 sites in 3 countries. Standardised clinical data, biosamples from peripheral blood, cerebrospinal fluid, skin biopsies, and data from a multi-OMICs approach were collected in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as healthy controls.ResultsFrom September 2015 to December 2017 a total of 421 participants were recruited including 95 Healthy Controls. Nearly 1,500 biological samples were collected. The study achieved its objective with respect to Parkinson’s disease (PD) recruitment, however it was unable to recruit many new Alzheimer Disease (AD) patients. Overall, data from 413 evaluable subjects (405 PD and 8 AD) are available for analysis. PD patients and controls were well matched with respect to age (mean 63.4 years), however, close gender matching was not achieved. Approximately half of all PD patients and one At-Risk subject were taking dopamine agonists; rates of Levodopa usage were slightly higher (∼60%). Median MDS-UPDRS Part III Scores (OFF state) ranged from 45 (SD 18) in those with Genetic PD to 2 (SD 3) in Healthy Controls. The standardised methodologies applied resulted in a high-quality database with very few missing data.ConclusionThis is one of the collaborative multi-OMICs studies in individuals suffering from PD and AD involving a control group. It is expected that the integration of data will provide new biomarker-led descriptions of clusters of patient subgroups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-biao Xian ◽  
Xin-chong Shi ◽  
Gan-hua Luo ◽  
Chang Yi ◽  
Xiang-song Zhang ◽  
...  

It is difficult to differentiate between Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy parkinsonian subtype (MSA-P) because of the overlap of their signs and symptoms. Enormous efforts have been made to develop positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to differentiate these diseases. This study aimed to investigate the co-registration analysis of 18F-fluorodopa and 18F-flurodeoxyglucose PET images to visualize the difference between Parkinson's disease and MSA-P. We enrolled 29 Parkinson's disease patients, 28 MSA-P patients, and 10 healthy controls, who underwent both 18F-fluorodopa and 18F-flurodeoxyglucose PET scans. Patients with Parkinson's disease and MSA-P exhibited reduced bilateral striatal 18F-fluorodopa uptake (p &lt; 0.05, vs. healthy controls). Both regional specific uptake ratio analysis and statistical parametric mapping analysis of 18F-flurodeoxyglucose PET revealed hypometabolism in the bilateral putamen of MSA-P patients and hypermetabolism in the bilateral putamen of Parkinson's disease patients. There was a significant positive correlation between 18F-flurodeoxyglucose uptake and 18F-fluorodopa uptake in the contralateral posterior putamen of MSA-P patients (rs = 0.558, p = 0.002). Both 18F-flurodeoxyglucose and 18F-fluorodopa PET images showed that the striatum was rabbit-shaped in the healthy control group segmentation analysis. A defective rabbit-shaped striatum was observed in the 18F-fluorodopa PET image of patients with Parkinson's disease and MSA-P. In the segmentation analysis of 18F-flurodeoxyglucose PET image, an intact rabbit-shaped striatum was observed in Parkinson's disease patients, whereas a defective rabbit-shaped striatum was observed in MSA-P patients. These findings suggest that there were significant differences in the co-registration analysis of 18F-flurodeoxyglucose and 18F-fluorodopa PET images, which could be used in the individual analysis to differentiate Parkinson's disease from MSA-P.


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