Scientists have found a connection between Parkinson’s disease and the intestines (3 photos)

Parkinson's disease - treacherous chronica neurological disorder that affects older people. And although mankind has known about it for several millennia, and physicians have studied the causes of its emergence and development for several centuries, modern medicine still cannot cure this disease, but continues to look for methods to combat it.

The essence of the disease is progressivethe death of neurons responsible for the production of dopamine. Its insufficient production leads to the destruction of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Such changes in the brain, according to scientists at Johns Hopkins University (USA), are due to the aggregation of improperly folded clusters of alpha synuclein protein (they are also called Levi's bodies). This deviation from the norm, based on the observations of scientists on laboratory animals, occurs in the intestine, and then these "substandard" proteins enter the brain.

In the early 2000s, this hypothesis was already announcedGerman scientist Heiko Braac, but her exact confirmation was not. A group of researchers at the University of J. Hopkins in 2014 conducted a series of experiments on rats and found that Levy's body does spread from the intestine to the brain, which causes the pathological signs of Parkinson's disease.

During experiments in the intestines of healthy miceThe researchers introduced synthetic misfolded alpha synuclein, and then these animals were monitored for 10 months. Studies have shown that alpha-synuclein first aggregates at the junction of the vagus nerve with the intestine, and then spreads through the brain. At the same time, if the vagus nerve was broken, the movement of alpha-synucleic proteins to the brain stopped.

As a result of research scientists have studied anotherthe source of Parkinson's disease, and therefore, doctors will have to develop ways to block the disease at the stage of pathology and prevent the development of this disease.

Source: newatlas.com