ArticleScientific reports2023
A novel pathway of levodopa metabolism by commensal Bifidobacteria.
Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Beyond bacteria: a multi-omics view of the gut-brain axis in Parkinson's disease.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- The microbiota at the interface of environmental toxicants and the brain.Cell metabolism · 2026Review
- Serum aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase activity as a biomarker for prodromal and manifest Parkinson's disease.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Microbiome signature of Parkinson's disease in healthy and genetically at-risk individuals.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- The Gut Microbiome in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Emerging Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Wearable sensors for monitoring drug pharmacokinetics in patients with Parkinson's disease.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Gut Microbiota and Dopamine: Producers, Consumers, Enzymatic Mechanisms, and In Vivo Insights.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Dopamine and the Gut Microbiota: Interactions Within the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis and Therapeutic Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Changes in Gut Microbiome Following Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Patients With Parkinson Disease: Protocol for a Single-Group, Prospective, Observational Study.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Gut Microbiome as a Source of Probiotic Drugs for Parkinson's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Dietary L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) augments cuticular melanization in Anopheles mosquitos reducing their lifespan and malaria burden.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The gut microbiome promotes detoxification responses to an environmental toxicant.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The Gut-Brain Axis in Parkinson disease: Emerging Concepts and Therapeutic Implications.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2025Review
- Cross-talk between microbiota-gut-brain axis and blood pressure regulation.Clinical science (London, England : 1979) · 2025Review
- A prebiotic dietary pilot intervention restores faecal metabolites and may be neuroprotective in Parkinson's Disease.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2025Article
- Parkinson's Disease and the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: Metabolites, Mechanisms, and Innovative Therapeutic Strategies Targeting the Gut Microbiota.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Association of Enterococcus faecalis and tyrosine decarboxylase gene levels with levodopa pharmacokinetics in Parkinson's disease.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2025Article
- Beyond weight loss: exploring the neurological ramifications of altered gut microbiota post-bariatric surgery.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Pharma[e]cology: How the Gut Microbiome Contributes to Variations in Drug Response.Annual review of pharmacology and toxicology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The gold-standard treatment for Parkinson's disease is levodopa (L-DOPA), which is taken orally and absorbed intestinally. L-DOPA must reach the brain intact to exert its clinical effect; peripheral metabolism by host and microbial enzymes is a clinical management issue. The gut microbiota is altered in PD, with one consistent and unexplained observation being an increase in Bifidobacterium abundance among patients. Recently, certain Bifidobacterium species were shown to have the ability to metabolize L-tyrosine, an L-DOPA structural analog. Using both clinical cohort data and in vitro experimentation, we investigated the potential for commensal Bifidobacteria to metabolize this drug. In PD patients, Bifidobacterium abundance was positively correlated with L-DOPA dose and negatively with serum tyrosine concentration. In vitro experiments revealed that certain species, including B. bifidum, B. breve, and B. longum, were able to metabolize this drug via deamination followed by reduction to the compound 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl lactic acid (DHPLA) using existing tyrosine-metabolising genes. DHPLA appears to be a waste product generated during regeneration of NAD +. This metabolism occurs at low levels in rich medium, but is significantly upregulated in nutrient-limited minimal medium. Discovery of this novel metabolism of L-DOPA to DHPLA by a common commensal may help inform medication management in PD.
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