Study finds Parkinson's disease originated in the intestines and passed into the brain through nerves.

In recent years, there has been growing evidence of a link between the intestines and Parkinson's diseaseMedical researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the United States say they have found new evidence that Parkinson's disease originates in intestinal cells and transmits neurons to the brain" these findings provide further evidence of the role of the gut in Parkinson's disease and provide us with a new and more accurate model for testing treatments that can prevent or prevent progression in Parkinson's diseaseDrTed Dawson, a professor of neurology and director of the Johns Hopkins Institute of Cell Engineering, saidThe findings were published in the journal NeuronDOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.035Parkinson's disease originated in the intestines
as early as 2003, German neuroanatomist Heiko Braak found that in samples of patients with post-death Parkinson's disease, the misfolded alpha-synaptic nucleoid protein also appeared in the controlled intestinal system (intestinal nervous system)Because people with Parkinson's disease develop gastrointestinal disorders such as constipation long before they develop symptomatic movement disorders of Parkinson's diseaseBraak hypothesized that Parkinson's disease may have originated in the intestinesbut one question is, are these alpha-synaptic nucleoprotein deposits in the gut nervous system the same as those found in the brain?the transmission of Parkinson's disease in micePhoto: To test this, In the latest study, DrTed Dawson and his colleague DrHanseok Ko, among others, injected the misfolded alpha-synaptic nucleoprotein synthesized in the lab into the intestines of dozens of healthy mice and sampled and analyzed brain tissue in mice 1 month, 3, 7 and 10 months after injection During the 10-month experiment, the researchers found that alpha-synaptic nucleoproteins began to accumulate where the vagus nerve is connected to the intestines and continued to spread to the brain the researchers then removed the vagus nerves of a group of mice and injected the misfolded alpha-synaptic nucleoprotein into their internal organs After seven months of observation, the researchers found no signs of cell death in mice with broken vagus nerves Dawson says the cut-off nerve seems to prevent the wrongly folded protein from progressing the right image is a DAT scan after alpha-synaptic nucleoprotein is injected into the intestines of mice, and the control group on the left Image caption Ted Dawson transformed into Parkinson's-related behavioural change
but how did this translate into Parkinson's-related behavioural change? researchers assessed the behavior of three groups of mice by nesting, exploring new environments (tasks commonly used to identify Parkinson's symptoms in mice): mice with misfolded alpha-synaptic nucleoproteins in the experimental group I, mice injecting misfolded alpha-synaptic nucleoproteins but cutting off stray nerves, and control groups (mice without injecting faulty proteins and retaining complete vagus-free nerves) the researchers first looked at mice nesting in cages -- a test of fine motor flexibility that is often affected by Parkinson's disease in humans It was found that the material used in the experimental group I was much less than that of the control group and the experimental group II, and their nests were smaller and more chaotic Ko said in a statement that similar to Parkinson's disease symptoms in humans, the mice's ability to control their fine movements worsened as the disease developed in another test, the researchers tested the level of anxiety in mice by looking at their responses to the new environment The researchers placed the mice in a large open box where the camera could track their movements The results showed that healthy mice were curious and would spend time studying each part of the new environment However, mice affected by cognitive decline were more anxious, making them more likely to stay on the edge of the box specifically, the control group and the experimental group II mice explored the center of the box over a period of 20 to 30 minutes On the other hand, the experimental group I mice spent less than 5 minutes in the center of the probe box and moved mainly near the boundary This suggests that mice that received alpha-synaptic nucleoproteins and had a complete vagus nerve were more anxious, a symptom consistent with Parkinson's disease concluded overall, the results of this study suggest that misfolded alpha-synaptic nucleoproteins can spread along the vagus nerve from the small intestine to the brain, and blocking this route of transmission may be key to preventing Parkinson's disease "This is an exciting discovery in the field and provides a clue to early intervention in the disease," said Dawson Next, the researchers plan to explore which parts of the vagus nerve allow the misfolded protein to "crawl" to the brain and study the potential mechanisms to stop it : [1] New research shows Parkinson's disease origins in the gut [2] New evidence of a link between Parkinson's disease and the gut could inspire treatments