Study Adds to Evidence That Parkinson’s Starts in the Gut

August 18, 2023
Columbia scientists have found that neurons in the gastrointestinal tract of mice are damaged by an autoimmune reaction to a protein associated with Parkinsons disease. (The arrow in this image points to a neuron). Their study is adding to evidence that t

Columbia scientists have found that neurons in the gastrointestinal tract of mice are damaged by an autoimmune reaction to a protein associated with Parkinsons disease. (The arrow in this image points to a neuron). Their study is adding to evidence that the disease may gets its start in the gut. Image courtesy of David Sulzer.

Ask any neurologist: Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder. The conspicuous symptoms of Parkinson’s disease—uncontrollable tremors, slowed down motions, and the feeling that one’s feet are stuck to the ground—all stem from the loss of neurons in a region of the brain that helps control movement.

But many researchers believe that the neurodegenerative disorder may get started far away from the brain—in the gut—and years before the first neurological signs appear.

New findings by Columbia researchers David Sulzer, PhD, and Dritan Agalliu, PhD, and two of their graduate students are adding to evidence backing this hypothesis—and showing that what triggers initial gastrointestinal changes in Parkinson’s could be a misdirected immune attack. [read more]

Source: CUIMC Newsroom