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Desulfovibrio bacteria enhance alpha-synuclein aggregation in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Parkinson’s disease, 2023, Huynh et al

Discussion in 'Other health news and research' started by Arvo, May 6, 2023.

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  1. Arvo

    Arvo Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Researchers discover a potential cause of Parkinson’s disease | University of Helsinki

    “Our findings are significant, as the cause of Parkinson’s disease has gone unknown despite attempts to identify it throughout the last two centuries. The findings indicate that specific strains of Desulfovibrio bacteria are likely to cause Parkinson’s disease. The disease is primarily caused by environmental factors, that is, environmental exposure to the Desulfovibrio bacterial strains that cause Parkinson’s disease. Only a small share, or roughly 10%, of Parkinson’s disease is caused by individual genes,” says Professor Per Saris from the University of Helsinki.

    ...

    Our findings make it possible to screen for the carriers of these harmful Desulfovibrio bacteria. Consequently, they can be targeted by measures to remove these strains from the gut, potentially alleviating and slowing the symptoms of patients with Parkinson’s disease. Once the Desulfovibrio bacteria are eliminated from the gut, α-synuclein aggregates are no longer formed in intestinal cells, from which they travel towards the brain via the vagus nerve like prion proteins,” Saris sums up.
     
    Arvo, May 6, 2023
    #1
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  2. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1181315/full

    Introduction:     The aggregation of the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) is a key feature in the pathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Alpha-syn aggregation has been suggested to be induced in the gut cells by pathogenic gut microbes such as Desulfovibrio bacteria, which has been shown to be associated with PD. This study aimed to investigate whether Desulfovibrio bacteria induce alpha-syn aggregation.

    Methods: Fecal samples of ten PD patients and their healthy spouses were collected for molecular detection of Desulfovibrio species, followed by bacterial isolation. Isolated Desulfovibrio strains were used as diets to feed Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes which overexpress human alpha-syn fused with yellow fluorescence protein. Curli-producing Escherichia coli MC4100, which has been shown to facilitate alpha-syn aggregation in animal models, was used as a control bacterial strain, and E. coli LSR11, incapable of producing curli, was used as another control strain. The head sections of the worms were imaged using confocal microscopy. We also performed survival assay to determine the effect of Desulfovibrio bacteria on the survival of the nematodes.

    Results and Discussion: Statistical analysis revealed that worms fed Desulfovibriobacteria from PD patients harbored significantly more (P<0.001, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test) and larger alpha-syn aggregates (P<0.001) than worms fed Desulfovibrio bacteria from healthy individuals or worms fed E. coli strains. In addition, during similar follow-up time, worms fed Desulfovibrio strains from PD patients died in significantly higher quantities than worms fed E. coli LSR11 bacteria (P<0.01). These results suggest that Desulfovibrio bacteria contribute to PD development by inducing alpha-syn aggregation.
     
    Hutan, May 6, 2023
    #2
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  3. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    There was that work being done to diagnose people with Parkinsons by smell. If their guts are producing hydrogen sulphide, that might explain why it's possible.

    Regarding the magnetite
    !
     
    Hutan, May 6, 2023
    #3
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  4. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    I thought this was a really nice paper, easy to read, and clever science. Whether it will pan out, I don't know, but it looks like a good lead to follow. How wonderful if this produces a cure/really effective treatment for Parkinsons.

    I imagine the scientists who were being sniggered about for 'focusing on the magnetic properties of fecal samples' are feeling pretty smug right now.
     
    Hutan, May 6, 2023
    #4
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  5. boolybooly

    boolybooly Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Very interesting. Magnetotactic bacteria, free living in the wild i.e. not enterobacteria, are thought to use magnetite organelles to orient and navigate using the Earth's magnetic field towards the anaerobic regions of mud beneath still water where they also produce H2S as part of their natural anaerobic respiratory process. Which gives a background for a possible evolutionary ancestry for these bacterial productions from enterobacteria.
     
    boolybooly, May 7, 2023
    #5
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