Gut Microbiota in Parkinson Disease

Pathologic and epidemiologic studies suggest that Parkinson disease (PD) may in part of cases start in the enteric nervous system and spread via the vagal nerve to the brainstem. Mounting evidence suggests that the gut microbiome plays an important role in the communication between gut and brain and that alteration of the gut microbiome is involved in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, including Parkinson disease.The aim of this study was to determine whether Parkinson disease is associated with qualitative or quantitative changes in the gut microbiome.We analyzed the gut microbiome in 29 PD cases and 29 age matched controls by next-generation-sequencing of 16S rRNA and compared diversity indices and bacterial abundances between cases and controls.