Objective: To  study compositional and functional differences  in the gut microbiota  and its products between  individuals with PD and matched controls,and these differences  are  or not  associated with  clinical features  and  effect  of   L-Dopa.

Background: The pathogenesis of  α-Syn in PD does not only occur in the brain, but also outside the brain, especially in the intestinal tissues and enteric nervous system (ENS).  Animal experiments have shown that α-Syn in the ENS can spread to the brain via the vagus nerve.  Gut microbiota  and its products are important environmental factors of the human body, and are found adjacent to the ENS. Under normal conditions, a dynamic balance is maintained between gut microbiota  and human through interactions. Once this balance is disrupted by dysbacteria, The gut microbiota  may induce PD via the “gut microbiota -ENS-vagus nerve-substantia nigra of the midbrain” axis.

Method: Stool specimens were collected from 15 patients of primary PD with constipation, 14 patients of primary PD without constipation and 15 controls. Bacterial DNA was extracted for 16sr RNA gene amplification and high-throughput sequencing. Species connotation, diversity analysis and analysis of species difference were performed on the sequencing results.

Results: There was no significant difference in alpha diversity index between the three groups (P>0.05).    The abundances of Coriobacteriia, Collinsella and Actinomyces were higher in both PD patients with constipation and PD patients without constipation than those of the control group (P<0.05), and the abundances of Lachnospira and Terrisporobacter were lower in the formers than in the latter (P<0.05). The abundances of Hungatella, Anaerotruncus colihominis and Lactobacillus fermentum were significantly increased in the PD patients with constipation than in PD patients without constipation and the controls (P<0.05). But there was no significant difference between PD patients without constipation and the controls.

Conclusion: Constipation was related to alteration of gut microbiota in PD patients. The abundances of Hungatella, Anaerotruncus colihominis and Lactobacillus fermentum were closely related to constipation, but irrelevant to the occurrence of PD. The abundances of Coriobacteriia, Collinsella, Actinomyces, Lachnospira and Terrisporobacter might be correlated with PD.

References: 1.Parashar A, Udayabanu M. Gut microbiota: Implications in Parkinson’s disease.[J]. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 2017, 38:1. 2.Heintz-Buschart A, Pandey U, Wicke T, et al. The nasal and gut microbiome in Parkinson’s disease and idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder[J]. Movement Disorders Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society, 2018, 33(1):88. 3.Qian Y, Yang X, Xu S, et al. Alteration of the fecal microbiota in Chinese patients with Parkinson’s disease[J]. Brain Behavior & Immunity, 2018.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-relationship-between-constipation-and-alteration-of-gut-microbiota-in-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/