https :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = DYwhqZuxSp8
This video shows the structure of fibrils of alpha-synuclein , toxic particles that are implicated in Parkinson ’ s disease , as determined by scientists through cryo-electron microscopy . CREDIT : R . GUERRERO-FERREIRA ET AL / eLIFE 2018
… this degenerative material is transported , apparently , through the vagus nerve .”
Over the past few decades , a number of animal studies have shown that the vagus provides a physical conduit that molecules can use to move between the gut and brain — but although this neurological superhighway could play an important role in Parkinson ’ s , it ’ s still not clear if the nerve is a lynchpin in causing the disease itself .
In addition to aggregates moving through the vagus , different triggers — like the lipids , vitamins and other organic compounds that gut bacteria produce — could travel through blood vessels to the brain , where they may cause inflammation and damage tissue . Likewise , says David Hafler , a neuroimmunologist at Yale University , immune cells that are activated in the gut may contribute to the neurological damage and dysfunction that occurs in Parkinson ’ s .
These immune cells , called T cells , can migrate out of the gut , enter the bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier , where they ultimately may kill off neurons . This sort of autoimmune response is the driver for other neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis ,
Hafler reasons , so it ’ s feasible that it plays a role in Parkinson ’ s as well . In both diseases , changes in the gut microbiome could be the potential trigger .
There ’ s already strong evidence for this idea . In 2016 , Sampson found a direct connection between gut microbes and Parkinson ’ s disease : Using fecal samples from Parkinson ’ s patients , Sampson inoculated the guts of germ-free mice ( animals with no naturally occurring microbiome ), and the animals quickly developed Parkinson ’ s symptoms . Today , using the new genetic survey of gut microbes he and his colleagues published in Nature
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