Pesticides in the gut? Starting around 2002, multiple reviews supporting the hypothesis that the vagus nerve as an initial site for Parkinson’s disease started being published. The vagus nerve includes cells that relay information from the gut to the brain. Currently, the speculation is as follows [1]:
– An environmental cue (ex: ingested pesticide) triggers a confirmation change in alpha-synuclein (protein associated with Parkinson’s disease) in the vagus nerve of the nose or gastrointestinal tract.
– The abnormal proteins travel through the vagus nerve into the brain stem.
– Protein clusters transfer and spread to other brain regions.
Evidence supporting this is both intriguing, including:
– Protein aggregates associated with Parkinson’s is believed to appear in the peripheral nervous system (specifically the enteric, or gut-related, neurons) early on in the disease.
– Different forms of alpha-synuclein can travel through the vagus nerve [2].
– Vagotomy (cutting the vagus nerve) decreases instances of Parkinson’s Disease in humans [3].
I hadn’t thought too much about the gut-brain axis, especially in relation to neurodegeneration, so this was a fascinating new perspective.
[1] PMID: 26662475
[2] PMID : 25296989 (though there were very little quantification…)
[3] PMID: 28446653 (>9,000 patients and >350,000 reference individuals! But the difference was only a trend after 20 years post surgery…)
Originally posted on Instagram March 25, 2019
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