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SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE · MED

Gut bacterial tyrosine decarboxylase associates with clinical variables in a longitudinal cohort study of Parkinsons disease.

NPJ Parkinsons Dis · 2021-12-15

DOI: 10.1038/s41531-021-00260-0PMID: 34911958

Open accessresearch-article; Journal ArticleOriginal source ↗

Research overview

The text below is the source article’s original abstract under a verified reuse license. cc by

Gut microbiota influences the clinical response of a wide variety of orally administered drugs. However, the underlying mechanisms through which drug-microbiota interactions occur are still obscure. Previously, we reported that tyrosine decarboxylating (TDC) bacteria may restrict the levels of levodopa reaching circulation in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We observed a significant positive association between disease duration and the abundance of the bacterial tdc-gene. The question arises whether increased exposure to anti-PD medication could affect the abundance of bacterial TDC, to ultimately impact drug efficacy. To this end, we investigated the potential association between anti-PD drug exposure and bacterial tdc-gene abundance over a period of 2 years in a longitudinal cohort of PD patients and healthy controls. Our data reveal significant associations between tdc-gene abundance, several anti-PD medications, including entacapone, rasagiline, pramipexole, and ropinirole but not levodopa, and gastrointestinal symptoms, warranting further research on the effect of anti-PD medication on microbial changes and gastrointestinal function.

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