Relatively new research findings indicating that the earliest stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) may occur in the gut have been gaining traction in recent years.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) increases the risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a review published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease by Tomasz Brudek, PhD who proposes directions for future research. "Parkinsonism is probably not just a brain disorder, but a group of diseases that may have their onset in the periphery, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract," explained Dr. Brudek, of the Research Laboratory for Stereology and Neuroscience, and Copenhagen Center for Translational Research, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
‘More information on gut/immune/nervous communication could help improve the treatment tools leading to better quality of life for patients, reducing the exacerbation of PD symptoms.’
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"Taken together, all data, including human, animal, and microbiome studies, suggest quite strongly that individuals with an increased tendency for peripheral inflammation have a higher risk to acquire PD. Given the potentially critical role of gut pathology in the pathogenesis of PD, there is reason to suspect that IBD may impact PD risk." Read More..
This review explores and discusses the latest knowledge about links between IBD and PD and presents evidence from animal studies that peripheral immune system alterations may play a role in PD, which has the potential for new therapeutic strategies.
It shows how our understanding and appreciation of the importance of the so-called gut-brain axis, the connection between gut and the brain in PD, has grown rapidly in recent years. It also provides important new insights into ways in which the immune system and inflammation can play a role in PD.
The inflammatory processes that occur in some patients with PD have naturally led to discussion of an association between IBD and PD since the two share some basic characteristics.
IBD is currently considered an inappropriate immune response to the microbiota in the intestines, characterized by chronic pro-inflammatory immune activity, a trait now also suggested to be a fundamental element of neurodegenerative disorders.
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Many epidemiological and genetic studies have found that there seems to be an increased risk of developing PD among people with IBD. The association between IBD and PD may simply be that IBD is just one type of intestinal inflammation, so it is not IBD specifically that increases the PD risk but perhaps intestinal or peripheral inflammation in a broader sense.
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Looking forward, Dr Brudek noted that:
"We should direct our focus on the immune system in all Parkinsonian disorders, and further investigate the role of systemic inflammation and the immune system as such in these neurological diseases. A clear knowledge of the mechanisms implicated in gut/immune/nervous communication could help improve the prognostic and therapeutic tools leading to better quality of life for patients, reducing the exacerbation of PD symptoms, and delaying the progression of the disease," he concluded.
PD is a slowly progressive disorder that affects movement, muscle control and balance. It is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder affecting about 3% of the population by the age of 65 and up to 5% of individuals over 85 years of age.
During the 20th century, PD was thought to be primarily a brain disorder, however, research has shown that it may actually begin in the enteric nervous system, the part of the autonomic nervous system that controls the gastrointestinal organs.
Source-Eurekalert