Cell Rep: intestinal flora or effective defense against Parkinson's disease

January 19, 2020 / BIOON / - recently, a research report published in the international journal Cell reports, scientists from the University of Edinburgh and other institutions found that a common bacteria that can promote the health of the digestive system can slow down or even reverse the accumulation of special proteins related to Parkinson's disease Image source: Wikipedia In previous studies, researchers found that brain function is related to intestinal flora In this study, researchers found that probiotics can effectively inhibit the aggregation of toxic protein clusters after studying the nematode model of Parkinson's disease These toxic proteins can make the brain lack dopamine, which is a key chemical that can coordinate the movement of the body The results may help researchers to develop new therapies for Parkinson's disease by using probiotics effectively In the brain of Parkinson's disease, α - synuclein will fold and accumulate to form toxic clumps These toxic clumps are directly related to the death of dopamine producing nerve cells The death of these nerve cells will induce the movement symptoms related to Parkinson's disease, including shivering and tardiness In this paper, the researchers used the modified nematodes to produce a human version of α - synuclein that can form toxic clumps They fed these nematodes with different types of over-the-counter probiotics to see if the bacteria in their bodies could affect the formation of toxic clumps The researchers found that probiotics called Bacillus subtilis can effectively resist the formation of toxic proteins, and can also remove some of the formed protein masses, which may improve the symptoms of nematode sports diseases; in addition, the researchers also pointed out that these bacteria It can effectively inhibit the formation of α - synuclein toxic clumps by producing special chemicals to change the way of cell enzymes treating sphingolipids Now, a large number of studies have revealed the relationship between brain function and intestinal microbiome, while other studies on mice have also found that intestinal microbiome may have some impact on the motor function of the body Researcher Maria doitidou said that in this study, we analyzed how the bacteria that changed the composition of intestinal microbiome affect the body's Parkinson's disease In the next step, we will further study the mice to clarify whether the probiotics detected can effectively improve the symptoms of Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease is one of the fastest growing neurological diseases in the world At present, there is no effective therapy that can slow, reverse or protect the progress of the body against the disease The change of intestinal microflora may play a key role in the initiation of Parkinson's disease in some people, and it is also directly related to the symptoms of some diseases In this study, the researchers revealed the relationship between intestinal microflora and Parkinson's disease core protein - α - synuclein, and identified the beneficial microflora for improving Parkinson's disease symptoms, which may not only be able to change The symptoms of patients can even effectively protect some people from Parkinson's disease Original source: Mar í a Eugenia Goya, Feng Xue, Cristina Sampedro Torres Quevedo, et al Probiotic Bacillus subtilis protection against α - synuclein aggregation in C elegans, cell reports (2019) doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.12.078