Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second-most neurodegenerative disorder in the United States. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, as many as Americans have Parkinson’s Disease.
Until now it was believed that Parkinson’s disease begins with a gradual loss of nerve cells in the brain, particularly those producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter vital for movement. This leads to a decline in dopamine levels leading to symptoms such as tremors, stiffness and slow movement.
Now, a newpublished in Nature Neuroscience, suggests that the disease actually begins from a shocking body part- the kidneys. The team of researchers from Wuhan University in China performed the study primarily focused on the alpha-synuclein (a-Syn) protein, which is closely associated with Parkinson’s.
When the production of this protein becomes uneven, it creates clumps of misfolded proteins that interfere with brain function. As per the research, the clumps of this protein can develop in the kidneys as well and thus the researchers are of the belief that these abnormal proteins might actually travel from the kidneys to the brain, triggering the disease.
“We demonstrate that the kidney is a peripheral organ that serves as an origin of pathological α-Syn,” wrote the researchers in the published paper.
To carry out the study, the team ran multiple tests to analyse the behaviour of the protein in genetically engineered mice and human tissue that included samples from people with Parkinson’s disease and chronic kidney disease.