Differences in gut microbiota between Parkinson's disease patients and controls seem to depend on multiple-frequently unmeasured-confounders. Monozygotic twins offer a unique model for controlling several factors responsible for interpersonal variation in gut microbiota. Fecal samples from 20 monozygotic twin pairs (n = 40) discordant for Parkinson's disease were studied (metagenomic shotgun analysis). Paired data analysis detected minimal differences in bacterial taxa abundance at species level (Bacteroides pectinophilus [p = 0.037], Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum [p = 0.050], and Bifidobacterium catenulatum [p = 0.025]) and in predicted metabolic pathways (primary bile acid biosynthesis [p = 0.037]). Additional studies are warranted to understand the role of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. ANN NEUROL 2022;92:631-636.
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