Project

Olfactory dysfunction is frequent in Parkinson Disease (PD) and may be present years before the motor symptoms appear. The early olfactory dysfunction could result from environmental factors acting through the nasal cavity such as microbial communities. Local inflammation induced by nasal fungus microbiota could lead to early neuronal dysfunctions in the olfactory system propagating in all the brain, thus inducing motor, cognitive and emotional manifestations in PD, in keeping with the Braak’s stage hypothesis. We propose a translational project aiming at investigating the potential influence of fungal microbiota in PD pathogenesis. We will analyze both olfaction and nasal microbiota in a large series of PD patients and test the link between olfactory deficits and nasal fungi. Then, we will take advantage of studying two populations of subjects with a very different environmental exposure (in mainland France and French West Indies) to isolate the abnormalities of the fungal microbiota that could be specific for PD.