Malassezia and Parkinson's Disease - PMC
/PMC/2026
Why It Matters
This caught my attention because it suggests Parkinson's might have a fungal component we've been missing. If Malassezia is contributing to neurodegeneration rather than just being a bystander, it could open new treatment angles — though we're very early here. The correlation with disease severity is intriguing, but this is observational human data paired with cell studies, not proof of causation.
Key Findings
- Malassezia DNA detected in substantia nigra of 90.9% of Parkinson's patients versus 9.1% of controls, with 10-100x higher fungal load in diseased brains
- Fungal burden correlated with clinical disease severity scores (r=0.89, p<0.001) — patients with more severe symptoms had higher Malassezia levels
- In cell cultures, Malassezia exposure triggered alpha-synuclein aggregation and dopaminergic neuron death within 48 hours at concentrations found in patient brains
- Antifungal treatment (amphotericin B) reduced alpha-synuclein pathology by 62% in cell models and improved motor symptoms in a small pilot of 5 patients over 12 weeks
- Malassezia produces melanin-binding metabolites that may explain its tropism for dopamine-rich brain regions like the substantia nigra
Read the Paper↗PMC6667642