Kumar Deepak, Bishnoi Mahendra, Kondepudi Kanthi Kiran, Sharma Shyam Sunder
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, S.A.S. Nagar, Mohali, Punjab, 160062, India.
Centre for Excellence in Functional Foods, Division of Food and Nutritional Biotechnology, National Agri-Food Biomanufacturing Institute (NABI), Knowledge City-Sector 81, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab, 140306, India.
Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2025 Jan 15. doi: 10.1007/s12602-024-10433-x.
Recent evidence links gut microbiota alterations to neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Replenishing the abnormal composition of gut microbiota through gut microbiota-based interventions "prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)" has shown beneficial effects in PD. These interventions increase gut metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which may protect dopaminergic neurons via the gut-brain axis. Neuroprotective effects of these interventions are mediated by several mechanisms, including the enhancement of neurotrophin and activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, GLP-1-mediated gut-brain axis signaling, Nrf2/ARE pathway, and autophagy. Other pathways, such as free fatty acid receptor activation, synaptic plasticity improvement, and blood-brain and gut barrier integrity maintenance, also contribute to neuroprotection. Furthermore, the inhibition of the TLR4/NF-кB pathway, MAPK pathway, GSK-3β signaling pathway, miR-155-5p-mediated neuroinflammation, and ferroptosis could account for their protective effects. Clinical studies involving gut microbiota-based interventions have shown therapeutic benefits in PD patients, particularly in improving gastrointestinal dysfunction and some neurological symptoms. However, the effectiveness in alleviating motor symptoms remains mild. Large-scale clinical trials are still needed to confirm these findings. This review emphasizes the neuroprotective mechanisms of gut microbiota-based interventions in PD as supported by both preclinical and clinical studies.
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