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Jimmy B. Feix, PhD, professor of biophysics, was awarded a two-year, $429,000 R21 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to investigate probiotic treatment to mitigate levodopa (L-dopa) metabolism by the gut metabolism as a promising novel approach to enhance the effectiveness of oral L-dopa therapy in Parkinson’s disease (PD).

PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease resulting from the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. It is the second-leading neurodegenerative disease associated with aging. For over fifty years, treatment with L-dopa, which crosses the blood-brain barrier and is converted to dopamine, has been used to mitigate the debilitating motor symptoms associated with PD. However, there are several caveats associated with L-dopa therapy. The scientific impact of these studies will be to further elucidate the effects of gut microbial metabolism on the efficacy of oral L-dopa therapy. There is a clear unmet need for novel approaches that enhance or extend the usefulness of L-dopa in PD treatment, and the development of a probiotic that effectively prevents decarboxylation of L-dopa in the gastrointestinal tract may have significant potential as an adjunct to L-dopa in the management of PD.

Collaborators on the project include Cecilia J. Hillard, PhD; associate dean for research, professor of pharmacology & toxicology, director of the Neuroscience Research Center, and G. Frederick Kasten, Jr. Endowed Chair in Parkinson’s Disease Research; Christopher J. Kristich, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research; and Nita H. Salzman, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics and microbiology & immunology, director of the Medical Scientist Training Program, and founding director of the Center for Microbiome Research.