Parkinson’s disease (PD) is projected to affect 8.7 million individuals by 2030. With accumulating evidence implicating the gut microbiome to play a role in disease pathogenesis, there was a need to generate a full, unaltered view of the imbalance of the gut microbiome in PD patients. The largest microbiome study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Alabama reported that the gut microbiome is involved in multiple pathways in the pathogenesis of PD.
The study involved 490 patients with PD and 234 healthy controls to study 257 species of organisms in the microbiome. The analysis revealed 84 of these species, i.e., 30% of gut microbiome organisms, were associated with PD , indicating a widespread imbalance. With a larger sample size and advanced studies, it is anticipated that researchers will soon be able to investigate the potential of manipulating the microbiome to…
