Diet and the gut microbiome in patients with Parkinson's disease

Dayoon Kwon; Keren Zhang; Kimberly C Paul; Aline D Folle; Irish Del Rosario; Jonathan P Jacobs; Adrienne M Keener; Jeff M Bronstein; Beate Ritz

doi:10.1038/s41531-024-00681-7

Diet and the gut microbiome in patients with Parkinson's disease

NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2024 Apr 22;10(1):89. doi: 10.1038/s41531-024-00681-7.

Authors

Dayoon Kwon¹, Keren Zhang¹, Kimberly C Paul², Aline D Folle¹, Irish Del Rosario¹, Jonathan P Jacobs³, Adrienne M Keener², Jeff M Bronstein², Beate Ritz^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angele, CA, USA.
² Department of Neurology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ The Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angele, CA, USA. britz@ucla.edu.
⁵ Department of Neurology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA. britz@ucla.edu.

Abstract

It has been suggested that gut microbiota influence Parkinson's disease (PD) via the gut-brain axis. Here, we examine associations between diet and gut microbiome composition and its predicted functional pathways in patients with PD. We assessed gut microbiota in fecal samples from 85 PD patients in central California using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Diet quality was assessed by calculating the Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015) based on the Diet History Questionnaire II. We examined associations of diet quality, fiber, and added sugar intake with microbial diversity, composition, taxon abundance, and predicted metagenomic profiles, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and sequencing platform. Higher HEI scores and fiber intake were associated with an increase in putative anti-inflammatory butyrate-producing bacteria, such as the genera Butyricicoccus and Coprococcus 1. Conversely, higher added sugar intake was associated with an increase in putative pro-inflammatory bacteria, such as the genera Klebsiella. Predictive metagenomics suggested that bacterial genes involved in the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide decreased with higher HEI scores, whereas a simultaneous decrease in genes involved in taurine degradation indicates less neuroinflammation. We found that a healthy diet, fiber, and added sugar intake affect the gut microbiome composition and its predicted metagenomic function in PD patients. This suggests that a healthy diet may support gut microbiome that has a positive influence on PD risk and progression.

Abstract

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