Antibiotics and antifungal medications may slightly influence the risk of Parkinson’s, research shows

A Rutgers Health study found that people who took multiple courses of penicillin antibiotics had a modestly lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a surprising finding that researchers say highlights the complex relationship between bacteria in the digestive tract and human health. brain stressed.

The study, published in Parkinsonism and related disordersanalyzed medical records of more than 93,000 people in the United Kingdom. Researchers found that those who received five or more penicillin antibiotics in the five years before diagnosis had an approximately 15% lower risk of Parkinson’s compared to those who did not take antibiotics.

“We found an inverse dose-response relationship between the number of penicillin courses and the risk of Parkinson’s disease over multiple time periods,” said Gian Pal, a neurologist at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and lead author of the study. “This was unexpected and contrasts with some previous studies.”

The findings add to mounting evidence that the trillions of microbes living in the human digestive tract may play a role in Parkinson’s disease, a progressive brain disorder that affects movement and balance. Some researchers believe that inflammation or toxins from certain intestinal bacteria may contribute to the development of the disease.

“There is an idea that the disease starts in the gut and that inflammation in the gut can cause the gut to become more leaky, allowing toxins or inflammation to rise through the vagus nerve to the brain,” says Pal.

To investigate possible links between gut bacteria and Parkinson’s, the researchers examined anonymized medical records from a large British database. They compared 12,557 people diagnosed with Parkinson’s with 80,804 similar individuals without the disease.

In addition to the reduced risk associated with penicillin use, the study found that people who took two or more courses of antifungal medications in the five years before diagnosis had an approximately 16% higher risk of Parkinson’s disease. This was consistent with findings from a previous Finnish study.

However, Pal said the associations were relatively small and should not affect medical decisions.

“These are all very mild, so it should not affect decisions about when to use antibiotics or antifungals,” he said. “The importance of the study is that it speaks to the idea that there is something going on in the gut microbiome that could influence Parkinson’s disease,”

The study has limitations, such as the inability to account for other bacteria-affecting behaviors such as patient diet.

Still, Pal said the findings support further research into how gut microbes may influence Parkinson’s risk.

“The fact that a drug you take for just a few days to change your microbiome in a small way changes the risk of Parkinson’s – to me that makes a stronger argument that the microbiome is involved,” he said.

Parkinson’s disease affects more than 10 million people worldwide, and the number of cases is expected to increase as the population ages. Although the exact causes remain unclear, researchers believe that a combination of genetic and environmental factors causes the disease. Diagnosis is made primarily based on symptoms, as there is no definitive laboratory test.

Pal said follow-up research on the study will include investigating whether specific fungi or bacteria in the gut are associated with Parkinson’s risk.

“Better understanding of the antifungal composition in the intestines – which has actually not yet been properly investigated – and seeing if that is useful in differentiating Parkinson’s patients from non-Parkinson’s patients would be helpful,” he said.

Researchers also hope to determine whether changing the levels of certain gut microbes could potentially reduce the risk of Parkinson’s or alter the course of the disease in those already diagnosed.