Evaluation of fecal microbiota transplantation in Parkinson's disease patients with constipation
Open accessAbstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and 70-80% of PD patients suffer from gastrointestinal dysfunction such as constipation. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for treating PD related to gastrointestinal dysfunction. We conducted a prospective, single- study. Eleven patients with PD received FMT. Fecal samples were collected before and after FMT and subjected to 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene sequencing. Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) grade, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) score, and the Non-Motion Symptom Questionnaire (NMSS) were used to assess improvements in motor and non-motor symptoms. PAC-QOL score and Wexner constipation score were used to assess the patient's constipation symptoms. All patients were tested by the small intestine breath hydrogen test, performed before and after FMT. Community richness (chao) and microbial structure in before-FMT PD patients were significantly different from the after-FMT. We observed an increased abundance of Blautia and Prevotella in PD patients after FMT, while the abundance of Bacteroidetes decreased dramatically. After FMT, the H-Y grade, UPDRS, and NMSS of PD patients decreased significantly. Through the lactulose H2 breath test, the intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in PD patients returned to normal. The PAC-QOL score and Wexner constipation score in after-FMT patients decreased significantly. Our study profiles specific characteristics and microbial dysbiosis in the gut of PD patients. FMT might be a therapeutic potential for reconstructing the gut microbiota of PD patients and improving their motor and non-motor symptoms.
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Other FMT studies in mice have corroborated these findings, suggesting that FMT can reduce constipation and tremors while increasing levels of protective bacterial species such as Prevotella.
“Other FMT studies in mice have corroborated these findings, suggesting that FMT can reduce constipation and tremors while increasing levels of protective bacterial species such as Prevotella [204].”
From The gut–brain axis in early Parkinson’s disease: from prodrome to prevention (2025) · cites this paper as [204]
The Abstract reports reduced constipation scores and increased Prevotella after FMT, while the Discussion reports improved motor-symptom measures. But this was a study of 11 Parkinson’s disease patients, not mice, and the passages do not establish a reduction in tremors specifically. (LLM, conf=0.89)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredConsistent preclinical studies and a handful of human case reports have shown that FMT might reduce motor and non-motor symptoms, as well as constipation, in PD at least in the short term.
“Concerning PD, consistent preclinical studies and a handful of human case reports have shown that FMT might be exploited to reduce motor and non-motor symptoms, as well as constipation, at least in the short term [40,465,469,470,471,472,473,474,475,476,477] (Table 4).”
From The Interplay between Gut Microbiota and Parkinson’s Disease: Implications on Diagnosis and Treatment (2022) · cites this paper as [475]
PD patients undergoing FMT showed increased presence of Blautia and Prevotella and diminished overall abundance of Bacteroidetes, confirming efficacy in modifying GM composition.
“In line with preclinical data, PD patients undergoing FMT showed an increased presence of Blautia and Prevotella and a diminished overall abundance of Bacteroidetes, thus confirming the efficacy of this approach in modifying the GM composition [475].”
From The Interplay between Gut Microbiota and Parkinson’s Disease: Implications on Diagnosis and Treatment (2022) · cites this paper as [475]
Three subsequent studies involving 6, 11 and 15 PD patients confirmed reduction in constipation, motor and non-motor symptoms following FMT, as indicated by decreased scores in PD assessment tests.
“Three subsequent studies involving 6, 11 and 15 PD patients, respectively, confirmed the reduction in constipation, as well as in motor and non-motor symptoms following FMT, as indicated by the decreased scores registered in various PD assessment tests [475,476,477].”
From The Interplay between Gut Microbiota and Parkinson’s Disease: Implications on Diagnosis and Treatment (2022) · cites this paper as [475]
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References 38 · Cited by 179
- Authors
- Kuai, X.-Y., Yao, X.-H., Xu, L.-J., Zhou, Y.-Q., Zhang, L.-P., Liu, Y., Pei, S.-F., & Zhou, C.-L.
- Affiliations
- Nanjing Medical University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Liu, Yi
- ORCID
- Venue
- Microbial Cell Factories
- Published
- 2021-05-13
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 98-98
- ISSN
- 1475-2859 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8120701
- OpenAlex
- W3134883668
- Cited by
- 179
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 14.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Microbial Cell Factories (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Suzhou Health and Family Planning Commission (LCZX201814)
- Suzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (SYSD2020142)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- fecal microbiota transplantation, Parkinson's disease, constipation, gastrointestinal dysfunction, gut dysbiosis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, Blautia, Prevotella, Bacteroidetes, motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, lactulose breath test
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation, Aged, Bacteria, Constipation, Feces, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Parkinson Disease, Prospective Studies, Quality of Life, Dysbiosis
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