Metagenomics Indicates an Interplay of the Microbiome and Functional Pathways in Parkinson's Disease

Abstract Previous studies suggest there are distinct gut microbial and functional variations in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD) that may reveal potential microbiome signatures or biomarkers to aid in early detection of the disease. In this case-control study, we used whole genome sequencing to compare the stool samples of 55 PwPD to 42 age-matched healthy controls (HC) from a public database (BioProject Accession PRJEB39223). For bacteria, we observed a greater relative abundance in Firmicutes and Actinobacteria among PwPD, while that of Bacteroidetes was lower. For phages, PwPD had a greater relative abundance of Siphoviridae, Tectiviridae, and Podoviridae, while Microviridae was lower. Moreover, we identified 10 functional pathways that significantly varied between PwPD and HC (all p < 0.0001). In conclusion, significant differences were observed in gut bacteria, phages, and functional pathways between PwPD and HC that both support and conflict with previous case-control studies and warrant further validation.