Elevated Lactobacillus salivarius and genus Akkermansia in fecal samples of Taiwanese patients with parkinson's disease and diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Recent advancements in non-invasive collection methods and technological innovations have significantly enhanced the analysis of human gut microbiota, which has become a key approach for understanding complex disease pathogenesis. Epidemiological studies and clinical trials have revealed intriguing connections between Parkinson's disease (PD) and diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, microbial populations from fecal samples of patients with PD and DM were analyzed. The prospective cohorts included four groups: PD only (n = 32), DM only (n = 170), and concurrent PD and DM (n = 10), matched with healthy controls (n = 98) by age and comorbidities. Fecal samples underwent full-length (V1-V9) 16 S rRNA sequencing analysis, and clinical and laboratory variables were collected. The results revealed an increased abundance of Lactobacillus salivarius in patients with PD (linear discriminant analysis [LDA] = 2.58, p value < 0.05) or DM (LDA = 2.20) compared to healthy controls. Similarly, an elevated abundance of the genus Akkermansia was observed in patients with PD (LDA = 4.39) or DM (LDA = 3.92). These findings suggest that gut microbiota alterations, particularly involving L. salivarius and Akkermansia spp., may play a role in the pathogenesis of PD and DM, warranting further investigation into their significance.

Keywords: Lactobacillus salivarius; 16S rRNA full-length sequencing; Akkermansia; Diabetes mellitus; Gut microbiota; Parkinson.

Fig. 1

ß-diversity presented by Jaccard Emperor PCoA plots of gut microbiota in four groups. Jaccard Emperor PCoA plots show the maximum dissimilarity between samples from the four groups. Healthy controls are colored red, patients with PD only are colored blue, patients with DM only are colored green, and patients with concurrent PD and DM are colored purple, n = 310, p-value = 0.001. PD, Parkinson’s disease; DM, diabetes mellitus; HC, healthy controls; PCoA, principal coordinates analysis.

Fig. 2

Taxonomic differences of fecal microbiota in four groups. (A) Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis revealed significant bacterial differences in fecal microbiota between the four groups: HC (colored red), DM only (colored green), PD only (colored blue), and concurrent PD and DM (colored purple). LDA scores (log10) > 2 and p < 0.05 are shown. (B) A cladogram was generated using the LEfSe method, indicating the phylogenetic distribution of fecal microbiota across the four groups. PD, Parkinson’s disease; DM, diabetes mellitus; HC, healthy controls.