Antidepressant use and age affects the diversity of the gut microbiome in Parkinson’s disease patients

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects mobility and brain coordination. Most cases of PD are observed in people above 60 years of age with some developing the disease before 50. Due to the impact of clinical symptoms such as depression on patient well-being, antidepressants are commonly prescribed. Studies have analyzed the gut microbiome and its association with PD, however, factors contributing to altered gut microbiota in PD patients remain largely unexplored. We performed an in silico analysis using 16S rRNA gut microbiome sequences to assess whether age and antidepressant use affect the gut microbiome diversity in PD patients. As such, we determined that there was no relationship between antidepressant use and age. Subsequently, we aimed to analyze the effects of age and antidepressant use on the gut microbiome in PD patients. We found that both age and antidepressant usage significantly alters the gut microbial diversity. We found the microbial community diversity and abundance were significantly lower in the antidepressant use group, and PD patients above 60 years old had a higher microbial diversity than younger PD patients. Additionally, we found indicator taxa associated with older PD patients only. Furthermore, there were lower abundances of the bacteria family Prevotellaceae, which is commonly present in gut microbiota and results in idiopathic rapid eye movement behavioural sleep disorder, in PD patients who used antidepressants. Our findings suggest that age and antidepressant usage strongly influence the diversity of PD microbiota. Further investigation is needed to analyze factors like the BDI depression score and age, specifically the younger-onset, to detect gradual shifts in the gut microbial community with respect to antidepressant consumption.