Effect of Paraquat on the gut microbiome in a mouse model of Parkinson's Disease

The gut has not historically been thought a major contributor to Parkinson's Disease (PD), but many PD patients have digestive symptoms years before they exhibit neurological symptoms, and composition of the gut microbiome of PD patients differs from that of healthy controls. The gut microbiome plays also a role in the effects of PD-related environmental neurotoxins. Paraquat (PQ) is widely used in the USA and increases the risk of developing PD, and PQ can affect the gut microbiome and gut-brain axis and also have other systemic effects. In the current study, we rederived the A53T-L444P and A53T mouse lined originally generated by Dr. Nussbaum (Fishbein et al., 2014) to assess whether PQ has differential effects on behavioral performance in A53T and A53T-L444P mice and whether these effects are associated with alterations in the gut microbiome.