Interesting article:
parkinsonsnewstoday.com/new...
Study:
nature.com/articles/s41564-...
I don't know much about iron and PD - based on the last quote below maybe an iron supplement is sensible if you take entacapone? It's probably not as simple as that...
"Here, scientists collected fecal samples from healthy human donors, incubated them with the medication, and then used techniques to examine how this influenced the abundance and activity of microbes to examine the potential effects of entacapone on the gut microbiome."
"Entacapone led to “ major shifts in microbial communities,” with the growth of some microbes severely depleted while others seemed to thrive more than usual, the researchers said. In particular, there was a dramatic increase in Escherichia coli bacteria with entacapone exposure. Not all strains of E. Coli are problematic, but some can cause infections with symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting."
"Adding iron to the fecal samples counteracted entacapone’s effects on the microbiome. Not only did it enable microbes inhibited by entacapone to grow, it also seemed to restrict the accelerated growth of potentially harmful microbes like E. Coli."
"Experiments also showed E. Coli is likely able to grow well in the presence of entacapone because it has a very efficient iron uptake system that enables it to overcome the iron starvation that depletes other microbes."
"“The next step is to explore how we can modify drug treatments to better support the gut microbiome,” Wagner said. “We are looking at strategies to selectively deliver iron to the large intestine, where it can benefit the microbiome without interfering with drug absorption in the small intestine.”"
Berberine for leaky gut and Parkinson's ?
Are you HEALING your GUT???
The Gut-Brain Connection: How it Works and The Role of Nutrition; Explained in layman's language as per Healthline
Bacteria and Brains: An Interview with Microbiome Expert Sarkis Mazmanian
