Parkinson's Disease: A Comprehensive Analysis of Fungi and Bacteria in Brain Tissue - PMC
/PMC/2026
Why It Matters
This paper caught my attention because it challenges the conventional view that Parkinson's is purely a protein-folding disease. If microbes are actually present in PD brains (not just gut-brain signaling), it opens wild questions about infection, inflammation, and whether antifungals could play a role. That said: this is post-mortem analysis with small sample size — we can't tell if microbes cause PD or just show up after neurons die. Not practice-changing yet, but worth watching.
Key Findings
- Brain tissue from 11 Parkinson's patients contained fungal DNA (primarily Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, and Malassezia species) across substantia nigra, medulla, and striatum regions
- Bacterial DNA was detected in PD brains including species from Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria phyla, with different microbial profiles compared to control tissue
- Immunohistochemistry confirmed fungal structures within neurons and extracellular spaces using specific antibodies against fungal proteins
- PCR and next-generation sequencing methods both detected microbial DNA, with sequencing revealing greater fungal diversity than initially detected by PCR alone
- Control brain samples from non-PD patients showed minimal to no fungal or bacterial DNA, suggesting this microbial presence is specific to Parkinson's pathology
Read the Paper↗PMC7053320