Other Gut research, and this time its Parkinsons. Its not microbiome but interesting none the less. From Medicalxpress Parkinsons disease may start in the gut. Extracts: In 2003, the German neuropathologist Heiko Braak presented a theory suggesting that the disease begins in the gut and spreads to the brain. The idea has since, despite vocal critics, gained a lot of ground. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden now present the first direct evidence that the disease can actually migrate from the gut to the brain. The so-called Braaks hypothesis proposes that the disease process begins in the digestive tract and in the brains center of smell. The theory is supported by the fact that symptoms associated with digestion and smell occur very early on in the disease. Researchers at Lund University have previously mapped the spread of Parkinsons in the brain. The disease progression is believed to be driven by a misfolded protein that clumps together and infects neighboring cells. Professor Jia-Yi Lis research team has now been able to track this process further, from the gut to the brain in rat models. The experiment shows how the toxic protein, alpha-synuclein, is transported from one cell to another before ultimately reaching the brains movement center, giving rise to the characteristic movement disorders in Parkinsons disease. medicalxpress/news/2014-10-parkinson-disease-gut.html
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 10:34:22 +0000
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