Interventional Influence of the Intestinal Microbiome Through Dietary Intervention and Bowel Cleansing Might Improve Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease

The impact of the gut microbiome is being increasingly appreciated in health and in various chronic diseases, among them neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). In the pathogenesis of PD, the role of the gut has been previously established. In conjunction with a better understanding of the intestinal microbiome, a link to the misfolding and spread of alpha-synuclein via inflammatory processes within the gut is discussed. In a case-control study, we assessed the gut microbiome of 54 PD patients and 32 healthy controls (HC). Additionally, we tested in this proof-of-concept study whether dietary intervention alone or additional physical colon cleaning may lead to changes of the gut microbiome in PD. 16 PD patients underwent a well-controlled balanced, ovo-lacto vegetarian diet intervention including short fatty acids for 14 days. 10 of those patients received additional treatment with daily fecal enema over 8 days. Stool samples were collected before and after 14 days of intervention. In comparison to HC, we could confirm previously reported PD associated microbiome changes. The UDPRS III significantly improved and the levodopa-equivalent daily dose decreased after vegetarian diet and fecal enema in a one-year follow-up. Additionally, we observed a significant association between the gut microbiome diversity and the UPDRS III and the abundance of Ruminococcaceae. Additionally, the abundance of Clostridiaceae was significantly reduced after enema. Dietary intervention and bowel cleansing may provide an additional non-pharmacologic therapeutic option for PD patients.