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Current treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD) improve motor symptoms but do not offer a cure. Recently, studies have suggested the poor clinical efficacy of existing treatments might be because they ignore a key element in the development of the disease: the gut microbiome.
A recent review paper, authored by Oxford medical student Patrick Oliver, with Livia Civitelli and Michele Hu from the OPDC, referenced over 200 studies in the field to explore evidence for a gut-first model of PD.
The review outlines current mechanistic understanding and support for a gut-first model of PD and looks at strengths and limitations of gut-based interventions, including probiotics, antibiotics, and faecal microbiome transplants. It also suggests future directions for studies in the gut microbiome, including using longitudinal prospective cohorts of individuals with REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) and prodromal PD to identify the early changes that drive Parkinson’s Disease.
Patrick says: ‘The inspiration for writing the review came from a new research project that I am working on together with Michele Hu, Jethro Johnson at the Kennedy Institute, and other collaborators which received funding from the John Fell fund. We found that focusing on the gut microbiome could enable earlier identification and intervention for Parkinson’s disease.’
Michele Hu added ‘It has been a real pleasure to work with Patrick, a dedicated and talented final year medical student at Oxford. He led a successful John Fell funding application to test the fecal microbiome in our Discovery PD and RBD cohort, working with the team to facilitate sample collection to ensure success. Having now written up this excellent review article on the subject as a medical student, I am looking forward to supporting his future research outputs as a qualified doctor! Many congratulations Patrick!’
Read the full review ‘Exploring the role of the gut microbiome in early Parkinson’s disease and whether this offers novel avenues for new therapeutic interventions.’