New research strengthens the theory that Parkinson’s disease may originate in the gut rather than the brain, revealing a key role of the immune system in driving its spread and pointing to potential early treatment strategies.
The study, conducted in mice by scientists at the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London and published in the journal Nature, shows that specialized immune cells known as gut macrophages act as carriers, transporting toxic proteins from the intestine to the brain.
For years, researchers have observed that one of the first brain regions affected by Parkinson’s disease is the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve, which directly connects the gut to the brain. Until now, however, it was unclear how the disease pathology travels along this route.
According to the findings, reducing the number of gut macrophages limited the spread of the toxic protein and led to an improvement in motor symptoms in the animals. This suggests that Parkinson’s disease could potentially be targeted at a very early stage—well before the onset of its hallmark movement symptoms.
The research was funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The team now plans to further investigate how immune responses contribute to neurodegeneration and whether inflammation markers in the blood could be used as tools for the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
New evidence suggests Parkinson’s disease may spread from the gut to the brain
