Parkinson's Patients Have Less Hydrogen-Producing Gut Bacteria
- Authors
- Anzu Suzuki, Mikako Ito, Tomonori Hamaguchi, Hiroshi Mori, Yuka Takeda, Ryuko Baba, Takeshi Watanabe, Ken Kurokawa, Susumu Asakawa, Masaaki Hirayama, Kinji Ohno
- Journal
- PLoS One
- Year
- 2018
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0208313
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Parkinson's Disease
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water may improve Parkinson's disease symptoms, potentially linked to low levels of hydrogen-producing bacteria in the gut of patients.
Key Finding
People with Parkinson's disease produce approximately 2.2 times less hydrogen in their intestines compared to healthy controls, primarily because they have fewer hydrogen-producing bacteria like Blautia coccoides and Clostridium leptum.
Summary
Researchers measured how much hydrogen is produced by different types of bacteria in the human gut. They found that people with Parkinson's disease have significantly fewer hydrogen-producing bacteria than healthy people, resulting in about 2.2 times less hydrogen production in their intestines. Specific bacteria called Blautia coccoides and Clostridium leptum are the strongest hydrogen producers, and these are less abundant in Parkinson's patients.
Practical Takeaway
This research suggests that reduced intestinal hydrogen production may be associated with Parkinson's disease, and that restoring hydrogen-producing bacteria could potentially be therapeutic. However, this is observational research that identifies a correlation rather than proving cause-and-effect, and much more research is needed to determine whether increasing intestinal hydrogen production would actually benefit Parkinson's patients.
Abstract
Oral administration of hydrogen water ameliorates Parkinson's disease (PD) in rats, mice, and humans. We previously reported that the number of putative hydrogen-producing bacteria in intestinal microbiota is low in PD compared to controls. We also reported that the amount of hydrogen produced by ingestion of lactulose is low in PD patients. The decreased hydrogen production by intestinal microbiota may be associated with the development and progression of PD. We measured the amount of hydrogen production using gas chromatography by seven bacterial strains, which represented seven major intestinal bacterial groups/genera/species. Blautia coccoides and Clostridium leptum produced the largest amount of hydrogen. Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis constituted the second group that produced hydrogen 34- to 93-fold lower than B. coccoides. Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum and Atopobium parvulum constituted the third group that produced hydrogen 559- to 2164-fold lower than B. coccoides. Lactobacillus casei produced no detectable hydrogen. Assuming that taxonomically neighboring strains have similar hydrogen production, we simulated hydrogen production using intestinal microbiota that we previously reported, and found that PD patients produce a 2.2-fold lower amount of intestinal hydrogen compared to controls. The lower amount of intestinal hydrogen production in PD was also simulated in cohorts of two other countries. The number of hydrogen-producing intestinal bacteria may be associated with the development and progression of PD. Further studies are required to prove its beneficial effect.