Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30381408›Full record

ArticleScience translational medicine2018

The vermiform appendix impacts the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Bryan A Killinger, Zachary Madaj, Jacek W Sikora, Nolwen Rey, Alec J Haas, Yamini Vepa, Daniel Lindqvist, Honglei Chen, Paul M Thomas, Patrik Brundin and 2 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science translational medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
145citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
24.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

145 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 270 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Appendix in ulcerative colitis pathogenesis and therapy: An updated narrative review.World journal of gastrointestinal pathophysiology · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Progress of Immunotherapies in Parkinson's Disease.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026
    Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. In situ NMR and integrative proteomics reveal the interaction signature of serum α-synuclein.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. The interrelationship between intestinal immune cells and enteric α-synuclein in the progression of Parkinson's disease.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 4 institutions in 7 countries.

Bryan A KillingerCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
Zachary MadajCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2330-0500
Jacek W SikoraProteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
Nolwen ReyCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1381-3492
Alec J HaasCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
Yamini VepaCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9714-3934
Daniel LindqvistDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Honglei ChenDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3446-7779
Paul M ThomasProteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2887-4765
Patrik BrundinCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2924-5186
Lena BrundinCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
Viviane LabrieCenter for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, USA. viviane.labrie@vai.org.
Van Andel Institute · USNorthwestern University · USAustralian Centre for Disease Preparedness · AULund University · SE

Funding

TR&D 7: Cell Specific ProteomicsP41GM108569 · NIGMS · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · PI KELLEHER, NEIL L · 2015 to 2024
$13.6M
Linking Synucleinopathy and Dysfunction of Olfactory PathwaysR01DC016519 · NIDCD · VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI MOORE, DARREN JOHN, WESSON, DANIEL W · 2017 to 2021
$2.8M
Does Microglial Activation Influence Propagation of Alpha-synuclein PathologyR21NS093993 · NINDS · VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI BRUNDIN, PATRIK · 2016 to 2017
$523k
NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC016519NIGMS NIH HHS P41 GM108569NINDS NIH HHS R21 NS093993
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) involves the accumulation of aggregated α-synuclein, which has been suggested to begin in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we determined the capacity of the appendix to modify PD risk and influence pathogenesis. In two independent epidemiological datasets, involving more than 1.6 million individuals and over 91 million person-years, we observed that removal of the appendix decades before PD onset was associated with a lower risk for PD, particularly for individuals living in rural areas, and delayed the age of PD onset. We also found that the healthy human appendix contained intraneuronal α-synuclein aggregates and an abundance of PD pathology-associated α-synuclein truncation products that are known to accumulate in Lewy bodies, the pathological hallmark of PD. Lysates of human appendix tissue induced the rapid cleavage and oligomerization of full-length recombinant α-synuclein. Together, we propose that the normal human appendix contains pathogenic forms of α-synuclein that affect the risk of developing PD.

Indexed as

AgedAge of Onsetalpha-SynucleinAppendectomyAppendixDisease ProgressionHumansMiddle AgedMutant ProteinsParkinson DiseaseProtein AggregatesRisk FactorsSwedenalpha-SynucleinMutant ProteinsProtein Aggregates

Identifiers

PMID30381408
PMCPMC6319259
OpenAlexW2899270497

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.