Researchers Study Parkinson’s Bacteria Journey In Mice

Andrew Barnes     07 Jul 2019     Researchers Study Parkinson’s Bacteria Journey In Mice

The earlier finding that the Parkinson’s disease starts in the gut has received further approval after a recent study conducted in mice. Scientists think that the toxic protein might be produced in the gut. They tracked its movement thoroughly to the brain through the vagus nerve. This new model has copied several early and late signs of Parkinson’s disease; some of those are not related to movement at all. The team realized that they could make the mice build up those characteristics by injecting “performed fibrils” of alpha-synuclein in their guts. It is the protein that creates toxic lump in brains of patients suffering from Parkinson’s.

Ted M. Dawson, Professor of Neurology from johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said that since the disease initiates in the guy, this way the entire journey and movement of pathogenesis of Parkinson’s could be observed. He also said that this might help doctors to find out ways to stop Parkinson’s in various stage before the disease fully takes over.

In Parkinson’s, the brain tissues are destroyed. It ruptures the brain cells which create a chemical messenger named dopamine which helps in movement control and motor function. A clear symptom of Parkinson’s is the formation of lump of roughly folded versions of alpha-synuclein protein in portions of the brain where it has affected. Pathologists have noticed these lumps during post-mortem of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

The team said it took 1 month for the toxic protein to reach the brain. In 2 months, the protein had been widespread beyond the region that gets affected by Parkinson’s to hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala etc. In 7 months, the spread had reached olfactory bulb, hippocampus etc. The team noticed how dopamine cells reduced in number in striatum and substantia nigra pars compacta. However, when the same procedure was repeated with mice that had severed vagus nerve, none of the symptoms for Parkinson’s developed.

https://www.medicaldevicenews.us/4654/researchers-study-parkinsons-bacteria-journey-in-mice/