Gastric bacterium causes Parkinson's disease
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Living in the stomach in almost half of the earth's inhabitants, Helicobacter pylori so modifies cholesterol that it causes degeneration of dopamine-producing cells in the brain - and this, alas, leads to the development of Parkinson's disease.
The gastrointestinal bacterium Helicobacter pylori, with all its positive qualities, is a rather dangerous symbiote: it is believed that it is one of the main causes of peptic ulcer. And, according to microbiologists from the Center for Health Research at the University of Louisiana (USA), the danger of this bacterium is even understated, and seriously. As shown by experiments of Americans, Helicobacter can provoke Parkinson's disease.
Parkinsonism is a serious neurodegenerative disease that is associated with the destruction of special cells in the brain that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, which primarily manifests itself in uncontrolled movements of the patient, trembling, etc. Annually only about 60,000 new cases of Parkinson's disease are diagnosed in the US alone. There was evidence that this disorder appears more likely in people who are ill or have had a stomach ulcer and infected Helicobacter pylori, but there is no reliable evidence to link this bacterium with Parkinson's disease to this day.
And at the congress of the American Microbiological Society on May 22, it was reported that Helicobacter causes Parkinson's disease in mice. In middle-aged animals, uncontrolled movements began to appear several months after infection with the bacterium; while they decreased the number of dopamine-producing cells in the brain parts responsible for the motor, which further indicated the development of parkinsonism. (Infection with H. Pylori was not affected in young mice.)
It turned out that the bacterium does not even need to be alive to cause Parkinson's disease: the same symptoms appeared in animals fed by dead Helicobacter pylori. This made the researchers look more closely at the biochemistry of H. Pylori. The microorganism can not itself produce cholesterol, so it borrows it from the host, but modifies it slightly by adding a carbohydrate residue. The resulting molecule becomes like a toxin belonging to one of the tropical cycads. The toxin of this tree causes symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.
It turned out that the modified cholesterol, synthesized by helikobacter, in itself (in its pure form) can cause symptoms of parkinsonism in mice.
H. Pylori lives in the stomach in about half of the world's population. But even if by colossal efforts to try to expel it from all carriers, it is not very clear how to deal with the negative effects that will inevitably manifest in the absence of this bacterium in the human body. Although Helicobacter provokes peptic ulcer and even stomach cancer, it also protects us from certain allergies, asthma, esophageal cancer and certain disorders associated with acid balance. Obviously, it is easier to learn to soften the temper of this peculiar symbiont, than to take some decisive and unequivocal measures against it.
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