Microbiome-mitochondrial interactions impact neuronal circuits and gut-brain connections in Parkinson’s disease (MIGUT)
Drug treatment with levodopa is the mainstay of treatment, but offers only partial symptomatic relief.
Main applicant: Prof. Marcel Verbeek
Affiliation(s): Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen (NL)
Abstract: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the fastest growing neurological disease worldwide. Drug treatment with levodopa is the mainstay of treatment, but offers only partial symptomatic relief. Moreover, disease progression cannot be stopped. Development of novel therapies aimed at slowing disease progression is hampered by the lack of detailed knowledge of the underlying disease mechanisms. Importantly, multiple mechanisms likely contribute to causing PD, but we do not know how these different mechanisms interact within an individual patient. In this study, a new, comprehensive approach to tackle the complexity of PD, by studying multiple disease mechanisms simultaneously, as well as their interaction, is offered. Using PPP samples, we aim to determine the composition of bacteria in the gut, the presence of signals of metabolism in blood of PD patients, and the function of the energy-generating machinery of our body: the mitochondria. With these analyses, we will obtain detailed information about the disease mechanisms underlying PD, and how these mechanisms interact within an individual patient. We expect that this study can offer a basis for new personalized treatments for PD patients.
Related Publications: Gut Microbiome and Parkinson’s Disease: Perspective on pathogenesis and treatment.