Microbiology: Gut microbes augment neurodegeneration

Nature           online article

To investigate a possible role for the gut in Parkinson's disease, Sampson et al. used model mice that express high levels of human α-synuclein in brain neurons. The authors raised these mice in a germ-free environment or raised them conventionally and removed their microbiota postnatally by antibiotic treatment. The absence of gut bacteria resulted in reduced severity of the animals' abnormal movements and lower levels of aggregated, misfolded α- synuclein compared with the model mice that retained their microbiota.