January 28, 2026

@michaelokun

Dairy rich diet and the liver-brain-axis: a new pathway to Parkinson’s risk in GBA1 carriers? Liver-brain-axis means signals and disease processes can travel between the liver and the brain through nerves and through blood related pathways. Chen and colleagues describe in a new paper in NPJ Parkinson’s Disease how a dairy rich diet may trigger alpha synuclein pathology in the liver and spread it to the brain in GBA1 related Parkinson’s. Key points: – A dairy rich diet induced alpha synuclein aggregation in liver immune cells in GBA1 mutation models and in liver samples from two patients w/ high dairy intake. – Casein and calcium drove mitochondrial stress and impaired autophagy, creating an environment that accelerated alpha synuclein buildup. – Liver alpha synuclein pathology propagated to brain regions linked to Parkinson’s and contributed to motor and cognitive impairments in animal models. My take: Dairy is tricky to understand, particularly w/ the potential buildup of pesticides in some dairy cows. This paper offers us more breadcrumbs. Here are 5 points that resonated w/ me: 1- Gene environment interactions matter and GBA1 mutations may amplify dietary risks. 2- The liver may be an early origin site for Parkinson’s related pathology, rather than just the brain. 3- Calcium and casein emerged as key drivers of oxidative stress and impaired protein clearance. 4- Neural pathways such as the vagus nerve may transmit pathology from liver to brain. 5- Dietary modification could become a precision prevention strategy for genetically susceptible folks. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41531-025-01211-9 #michaelokun fixelinstitute #parkinson #diet #dairyfree #dairy