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Published

Gut-brain nexus: Mapping multimodal links to neurodegeneration at biobank scale

Authors

Mohammad Shafieinouri, Samantha Hong, Paul Suhwan Lee, Spencer M Grant, Marzieh Khani, Anant Dadu, Artur F Schumacher Schuh, Mary B Makarious, Rodrigo Sandon, Emily Simmonds, Hirotaka Iwaki, Gracelyn Hill, Cornelis Blauwendraat, Valentina Escott-Price, Yue A Qi, Alastair J Noyce, Armando Reyes-Palomares, Hampton L Leonard, Malu Tansey, Faraz Faghri, Andrew B Singleton, Mike A Nalls, Kristin S Levine, Sara Bandres-Ciga

Abstract

Sci Adv. 2025 Aug 29;11(35):eadu2937. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adu2937. Epub 2025 Aug 27.

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. We conducted a biobank-scale study to (i) identify endocrine, nutritional, metabolic, and digestive disorders with potential causal or temporal associations with AD/PD risk before diagnosis; (ii) assess plasma biomarkers' specificity for AD/PD in the context of co-occurring gut related traits and disorders; and (iii) integrate multimodal datasets to enhance AD/PD prediction. Our findings show that several disorders were associated with increased AD/PD risk before diagnosis, with variation in the strength and timing of associations across conditions. Polygenic risk scores reveal lower genetic predisposition for AD/PD in individuals with co-occurring disorders. Moreover, the proteomic profile of AD/PD cases was influenced by comorbid gut-brain axis disorders. Last, our multimodal prediction models outperform single-modality paradigms in disease classification. This endeavor illuminates the interplay between factors involved in the gut-brain axis and the development of AD/PD, opening avenues for therapeutic targeting and early diagnosis.

PMID:40864721 | DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adu2937

UK DRI Authors

Valentina Escott-Price

Prof Valentina Escott-Price

Group Leader

Using Big Data, machine learning and AI to accelerate discoveries into dementia

Prof Valentina Escott-Price