Gut Bacteria Linked to Parkinson's Disease

Desulfovibrio is a genus of Gram-negative sulfate-reducing bacteria, which lives in anaerobic environment but also in animals and human guts. The researchers showed that Desulfovibrio bacteria were more prevalent and more abundant in quantity in patients with Parkinson's disease, especially patients with more severe disease, than in healthy individuals. this stain may play a role by causing aggregation of the alpha-synuclein protein, a key feature in the pathology of Parkinson's disease.

The study is done on a small number of patients and more research is needed to understand the difference between the Desulfovibrio stains as some healthy people harbor these bacterias. Source : Desulfovibrio bacteria enhance alpha-synuclein aggregation in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Parkinson’s disease. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology