Analysis of the Gut Microflora in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the composition of the fecal microflora of Chinese Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, as well as to explore links between PD clinical features and antiparkinsonian medications on the gut microflora. Seventy-two PD cases [59 patients suffering from PD for >1 year (OPD) and 13 new PD (NPD) patients] were studied. Microflora communities in the feces of the patients and corresponding healthy controls (HCs) were examined using high-throughput Illumina MiSeq sequencing targeting the 16S rRNA gene. The gut microflora of OPD patients contained high levels of Rikenellaceae compared to corresponding HCs. In addition, significantly higher levels of Turicibacteraceae were found in the NPD group compared to the corresponding HCs. The genera Turicibacter and Prevotella were significantly correlated with the PD severity scores. Our findings that some fecal microflora were closely related to PD clinical characteristics may enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of PD.