How much gut plays a role in Parkinson’s?
It is been demonstrated that dopaminergic neuron vulnerability, mitochondrial dysfunction, α-syn aggregation, and neuroinflammation are the central mechanisms of PD.
The authors add new twist to the puzzle. They believe that the above mentioned mechanism act downstream of gut microbiota malfunction.
Microbiota dysbiosis from environmental insults results in tight junction disruption, mucus layer erosion and gut resilience reduction.
This may result in rise of α-syn seeding, loss of immune tolerance, neurotoxic metabolite generation and systemic immune inflammation leading to brain degeneration.
Thus, the authors argue that the brain is not the origin of PD pathology but its eventual target.
