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Parkinson's disease, along with other diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, is one of the most well-known neurodegenerative diseases today. However, its origin and treatment remain mysterious, given that current drugs only control or slightly delay the course of the disease, but are not able to cure it .
We know that ] there are pathological proteins in the brain but not where these proteins are produced or how they reach the brain. Now, a new work published in Science Traslational Medicine suggests that this origin could be the appendix, an organ of the intestine that was considered useless until recently, but of which early disappearance would reduce the risk of suffering
According to this new work, the pathological proteins responsible for Parkinson's disease would end up in the intestinal tract and eventually go to the brain to produce the neurodegenerative disorder characterized by muscular rigidity, slowness of movement and tremor in addition to failures of memory as suggested by another study in 2015.
More specifically, according to the new study, people whose appendix would have been removed at a young age would have a ] 19% and 25% less risk to suffer from Park's disease inson or at a later stage. It should be noted that this would not be the first work that would have linked Parkinson's disease to a potential intestinal origin, other studies suggesting a direct relationship between intestinal bacteria and the disease.
On this occasion, to reach such conclusions, The researchers badyzed two huge databases one out of 1.6 million people in Sweden and the other on 849 international patients with this disease.
According to their data, those who underwent appendectomy (extirpation of the appendix) were 19% less likely to develop this disorder but only if this operation was performed at an early age, dozens of Years before the typical age of the disorder. In contrast, in the Parkinson's disease group, those whose appendix had been removed developed the disease up to 3.6 years later on average in individuals who still possessed the disease. vestigial organ.
According to Viviane Labrie, a professor of neuroscience at the Van Andel Research Institute of Michigan and lead author of the study, the appendix could play a key role in triggering the disease [19659008]. On the other hand, the habitat of the individuals was also compared, detecting that those who lived in rural areas and who underwent an appendectomy were up to 25% less likely to suffer from the disease. Parkinson's than those who lived in urban areas.
] These data are striking, given that the disease is known to be more prevalent in rural areas, a fact believed to be related to pesticide exposure, according to Labrie. Even in this case, this risk reduction would not have been reflected in people already genetically predisposed. Although, on the other hand, only 10% of Parkinson's cases have a genetic basis.
Why the appendix is essential
In the same way as in Alzheimer's disease, pathological proteins are badociated with it. in the case of Parkinson's disease, protein deposits called "Lewy bodies" have been detected and are organized around neurons. Their correct functioning is difficult, avoiding in this case the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine.
These Lewy bodies are composed of malformed proteins, of alpha-synuclein which can also be detected in the appendix . In fact, in the second part of the work, Labrie and her team managed to identify them.
Images were taken from 48 appendices of healthy individuals not suffering from Parkinson's disease, of different age and even during inflammatory processes. All have detected alpha-synucleins, the same proteins that have been linked to Parkinson's disease, which would indicate that the same "pathological proteins" in the brain might be something "normal" in the intestines, or in that case. in annex. In turn, these data could indicate that the appendix might contain a potential origin for the disease.
Still, Labrie and his colleagues point out that their work found only a statistical relationship, but they were not able to demonstrate. a true cause-and-effect relationship between these proteins of the appendix and Parkinson's disease as such
Moreover, also does not recommend to practice preventive appendectomies in order to avoid Parkinson's disease, given that at the moment this disorder is relatively rare (1% of the world's population) and the work was not trying to find a preventive treatment as such, but only to explore potential therapeutic pathways against the disease and its possible origin. For now, Labrie and her colleagues will continue to study the molecular basis of the disease.
[Más información: Logran controlar las manifestaciones del párkinson por primera vez]
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