Gut microbiome dysbiosis across early Parkinson's disease, REM sleep behavior disorder and their first-degree relatives

The microbiota-gut-brain axis has been suggested to play an important role in Parkinson's disease (PD). This cross-sectional study profiled gut microbiota across early PD, REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), first-degree relatives of RBD (RBD-FDR), and healthy controls. Gut microbiota compositions were significantly altered in early PD and RBD compared with control and RBD-FDR. Depletion of butyrate-producing bacteria and enrichment of pro-inflammatory Collinsella emerged in RBD and RBD-FDR. Random forest modeling identified 12 microbial markers distinguishing RBD from controls. These findings suggest PD-like gut dysbiosis occurs at prodromal PD stages when RBD develops and emerges in younger RBD-FDR subjects, with etiological and diagnostic implications.

Bei Huang, Steven W. H. Chau, Yaping Liu, Joey W. Y. Chan, Jing Wang, Suk Ling Ma, Jihui Zhang, Paul K. S. Chan, Yun Kit Yeoh, Zigui Chen, Li Zhou, Sunny Hei Wong, Vincent C. T. Mok, Ka Fai To, Hei Ming Lai, Simon Ng, Claudia Trenkwalder, Francis K. L. Chan, Yun Kwok Wing