Certain strains of ‘Desulfovibrio’ bacteria may cause Parkinson’s disease
Patients with Parkinson’s disease, be careful of drugs such as digestive or tranquilizers
Parkinson’s disease, which is the most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s and whose prevalence is rapidly increasing with the aging of the population, is estimated to have 8 million patients worldwide and about 120,000 patients in Korea.
What causes Parkinson’s disease?
The cause of Parkinson’s disease is known as a disease in which movement disorders occur due to the loss of dopamine-secreting neurons in the midbrain substantia nigra. (Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
There’s no such thing as a big genetic factor. Only 5-10% of all patients with Parkinson’s disease are caused by heredity, and most of the others are idiopathic. In studies on environmental factors, toxin exposure by pesticides, heavy metals, carbon monoxide, organic solvents, trace metal elements, and head damage are cited as causes of the disease, but the exact cause has not been identified yet.
“Parkinson’s disease is caused by environmental exposure to the specific strain of bacteria that causes the disease”
A recent Finnish study published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology demonstrated that certain bacteria are associated with Parkinson’s disease, and that their higher numbers are related to the severity of disease symptoms.
Chinese researchers who conducted the same study reached the same conclusion (published last March in the Journal of Applied Microbiology and Cell Physiology).
The researchers emphasize that their findings are important because, despite attempts to determine the cause of Parkinson’s disease, the cause has not been identified for the past two centuries. It indicates that certain strains of the ‘Desulfovibrio’ bacteria have the potential to cause Parkinson’s disease, which is mainly caused by environmental factors.
The main finding of this study is that this strain from Parkinson’s disease patients causes aggregation of α-synuclein proteins at statistically significant levels in Parkinson’s disease model organisms. As the model organism, ‘Caenorhabditis elegans’ was used.
We also found that strains of Desulphovibrio isolated from healthy individuals did not induce α-synuclein aggregation to the same extent. On the other hand, the aggregates caused by the strain of Desulphovibrio in patients with Parkinson’s disease were also larger.
Researchers explain that making it possible to screen for carriers of these harmful Desulphovibrio bacteria, and as a result, they could be targeted for action to clear these strains from the gut, potentially alleviating and slowing symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease. .
“Once the desulfovibrio bacteria are cleared from the gut, α-synuclein aggregates no longer form in the intestinal cells and travel to the brain via the vagus nerve as prion proteins.”
Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and precautions
There is no test that can confirm Parkinson’s disease, and the diagnosis of a specialist is the most important diagnostic method. It is easy to hear the story that it took quite a long time to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
According to Seoul Asan Medical Center, patients with Parkinson’s disease can use digestive medicines (Metoclopramide: Macperan, Reglan, Levopride: Levosulfide, Sulfiride, Levopran, etc.) or tranquilizers (Haloperidol). , medications such as Perphenazine) should be avoided.
Levopride is a drug that enhances gastrointestinal motility and is commonly prescribed in Korea, and patients with Parkinson’s disease need special attention. Since this drug is often prescribed by departments other than neurology departments for indigestion or arthritis, when patients with Parkinson’s disease visit a hospital with symptoms other than Parkinson’s disease, such as digestive system, arthritis, and back pain, they take drugs containing levosulfyramid. It is necessary to say in advance that is absolutely contraindicated.
Reporter Park Joo-hyun of Chemical News
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2023-05-08 01:36:32
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