The old saying “trust your gut” may soon have a new meaning for people with Parkinson’s disease.
A team of scientists at the University of Georgia has created a special kind of medicine using good bacteria to help treat this brain disorder.
Led by Professor Anumantha Kanthasamy, the researchers have designed a new probiotic, a living bacterium that can deliver a drug called levodopa straight from the gut to the brain.
This is important because Parkinson’s is caused by the loss of brain cells that make dopamine, a chemical that helps control movement. Without enough dopamine, people have trouble moving, shaking, or keeping their balance.
Levodopa, also called L-DOPA, has been the main medicine for treating Parkinson’s symptoms for years. It helps restore movement, but taking it as a pill causes the medicine to enter the body in bursts. These ups and downs in dopamine levels can cause unwanted side effects like twitching or jerky movements, a problem known as dyskinesia.
To fix this, the researchers engineered a helpful strain of bacteria called Escherichia coli Nissle 1917. This type of bacteria has been safely used for a long time to treat stomach problems.
The team changed the bacteria so it can make levodopa inside the gut, slowly and steadily. This way, the drug is released gradually, avoiding the sharp highs and lows that cause side effects.
This new kind of medicine is called a “living drug” because it’s made from living bacteria. Once inside the body, the bacteria act like tiny factories that produce the medicine where it’s needed.
According to the researchers, this is the first time anyone has used this method to deliver levodopa continuously in a noninvasive way. They believe this strategy could also be used for other brain diseases, like Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Piyush Padhi, a postdoctoral scientist in the lab, said the idea came from studies showing that the gut and brain are closely connected. He explained that gut bacteria are always making useful chemicals, and the team wondered if they could harness this process to make Parkinson’s treatment better.
The results of their study were published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. The research involved experts from different fields, including microbiology, pharmacology, and statistics. The early part of the work was done at Iowa State University, where Kanthasamy used to work.
The next big step is testing this living medicine in humans. Padhi said the results from their preclinical studies look promising, and they are ready to begin clinical trials.
If these trials go well, people with Parkinson’s might be able to take one probiotic pill a day instead of many doses of traditional medication. This could help keep symptoms under better control and improve their daily lives.
If you care about gut health, please read studies about how probiotics can protect gut health ,and Mycoprotein in diet may reduce risk of bowel cancer and improve gut health.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how food additives could affect gut health, and the best foods for gut health.
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