Role of short-chain fatty acids in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is tightly related to enteric nervous system dysfunction and gut microbiota dysbiosis. Short-chain fatty acids are the main metabolites produced by the gut bacteria fermentation of dietary fiber and are suggested to play a key role in gut–brain cross-talk. The article presents a review of the literature on the contribution of short-chain fatty acids to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Patients with Parkinson’s disease have higher plasma concentrations of acetate, propionate, and butyrate than controls. These changes correlate with the severity of the clinical picture of Parkinson’s disease, levels of pro-inflammatory gut bacteria and pro-inflammatory cytokines. The cause of these changes may be an over-population of the gut of Parkinson’s disease patients with bacteria such as clostridia and ruminococci, leading to regulatory immune reactions, intestinal inflammation, increased permeability of the intestinal barrier, excessive intake primarily of propionate in the central nervous system, and activation of neuroinflammation. The importance of further study of the relationship between changes in gut metabiotic, its metabolome, and the immune system T-cell in patients with Parkinson’s disease is demonstrated. Justified the study of blood plasma from patients with Parkinson’s disease using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for the accurate, clinically relevant, assessment of the gut–brain crosstalk.