Objective: We investigated the temporal stability of gut microbiome (GM) profiles from Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients initiating device-assisted therapies (DAT) and in a separate cohort characterise GM influences on PD progression.
Background: Previous studies have reported altered GM composition in association with motor and non-motor symptoms in PD. Only a few prior studies considered the influences of PD medications, namely oral therapies, on the GM.
Method: Clinical data from validated questionnaires and stool samples from 74 PD patients and 74 healthy controls (HCs) were longitudinally evaluated, at t=0, 6 and 12 months. PD patients were sub-stratified as faster or slower progressors, inferred from levodopa equivalence dose and motor severity measures. Additionally, 19 PD patients receiving Deep Brain Stimulation or levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel were longitudinally evaluated at t=0, 6 and 12 months post-therapy initiation.
Results: Persistent underrepresentation of short-chain fatty acid producing bacteria, Clostridium_XVIII, Butyricicoccus and Fusicatenibacter was apparent in PD patients compared to HCs. No persisting GM profiles were recognised between faster and slower progressing patients, although predictive modelling supported the use of GM profiles to assist in defining PD progression. Our previous findings of acute GM changes in response to DAT initiation were not sustained at 6 and 12 months, although differing microbiota profiles persisted following DAT initiation.
Conclusion: We present the largest longitudinal GM study in PD patients showing persistently altered GM profiles indicative of underrepresentation of short-chain fatty-acid-producing bacteria. DAT’s were found to exert acute variable influence on the GM that didn’t persist over time.
This abstract is partially reproduced from a planned presentation at the Virtual Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists, Annual Society Meeting, 19-21 May 2021.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. Lubomski, X. Xu, A. Holmes, S. Mueller, J. Yang, C. Sue, R. Davis. The gut microbiome in Parkinson’s disease: longitudinal insights into disease progression and the use of device-assisted therapies. [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2021; 36 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-gut-microbiome-in-parkinsons-disease-longitudinal-insights-into-disease-progression-and-the-use-of-device-assisted-therapies/. Accessed October 19, 2025.« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2021
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-gut-microbiome-in-parkinsons-disease-longitudinal-insights-into-disease-progression-and-the-use-of-device-assisted-therapies/