Brain Commun: Relationship between intestinal disorders and Huntington's disease.

8, 2020 /--- A clinical study of the gut microbiome of people with Huntington's disease (HD) found that it is not only a brain disease, but also a physical one.
The study, led by Monash University's Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and in collaboration with the Flori Institute of Neuroscience, found evidence of intestinal malnutrition in people with HD, a change in bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, and some disease-related intestinal symptoms.
findings, published in the journal Brain Communications, raise questions about the role of the gut in Huntington's disease and its potential as a future therapeutic intervention or target for tracking disease progression.
(Photo source: www.pixabay.com) In the study, lead researchers Cory Wasser and Professor Julie Stout, director of Monash University's Clinical Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, used stool samples to investigate whether the gut microbiome in HD patients was different from the normal population.
the study included 42 participants, including 19 with HD symptoms, 23 with HD genetic variants but not yet showing symptoms, and 36 healthy participants who did not carry genetic mutations.
people with HD, the researchers found significant changes in bacterial levels in their guts, changing the likelihood that the intestines would send signals to the brain and other organs.
may also mean changes in gut bacteria may be the cause of more debilitating symptoms associated with HD, the researchers said.
HD is a debilitating genetic nervous system disease that gradually affects a person's motor, emotional and cognitive function.
parents with the HD gene have a 50 percent chance of inheriting the genetic mutation that causes the disease.
, life expectancy decreases by 10-25 years, seriously affecting the quality of life later in life.
in HD patients, exercise symptoms become weak, cognitive decline, and eventually develop dementia, and it is estimated that HD patients have 5 to 10 times more depression than the general population.
(bioon.com) Source: Study finds evidence of gut dysbiosis in people with Huntington's disease Original source: Wasser, C.I., et al. (2020) Gut dysbiosis in Huntington's disease: associations between gut microbiota, cognitive performance and outcomes. Brain Communications. doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcaa110.