Recent research has revealed that gut microbes can alter how a medication works in our bodies, sometimes with undesirable — or even toxic — results.
"Maybe the drug is not going to reach its target in the body, maybe it's going to be toxic all of a sudden, maybe it's going to be less helpful," adds Maini Rekdal. Parkinson's: Study reveals how cancer drug reduces toxic protein in brainThe early results of a clinical trial show that a cancer drug helps raise dopamine levels.Read now Doctors also prescribe another drug, called carbidopa, in conjunction with L-dopa in the hope that it will counteract the way the body breaks it down, and in doing so, allow the drug to work better.
These side effects can intensify when a person increases their dosage of L-dopa because they are not getting enough dopamine. This occurs because their body is breaking it down and not enough dopamine can reach the brain. This presented a new problem to solve, as the introduction of the other medication is meant to stop this reaction — but it does not always work the way it is supposed to do.
"The molecule turns off this unwanted bacterial metabolism without killing the bacteria; it's just targeting a nonessential enzyme," says Maini Rekdal.