Mold Odor May Be Linked to Parkinson’s Disease

June 12, 2014- A compound emitted by mold ­-- known as mushroom alcohol -- might contribute to Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last fall by Joan Bennett, an expert in mold toxins, and a postdoctoral researcher in her lab, Arati Inamdar.

"I believe some people are being made sick by things in their environment," Bennett said. "We used to spend most of our time outside. Now we spend 90 percent of our time indoors."

Earlier studies linked so-called microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) emitted from mold to asthma, allergies and other health problems — but not neurological conditions.

Bennett, Inamdar and other scientists from Rutgers and Emory University ran experiments on fruit flies. The team enclosed them in vials containing cotton soaked in mushroom alcohol, wafting the aroma at a level comparable to a moldy building.

They noticed something strange. As the flies inhaled the mushroom alcohol, they displayed tremors, clumsiness, a slow gait — much like people with Parkinson's disease. When they examined the flies' brains, they found that flies exposed to mushroom alcohol had significantly fewer dopamine-producing nerve cells than unexposed controls -- confirming that the compound had caused the fly equivalent of Parkinson's disease.

It's a big evolutionary leap from fruit fly to human. But she noted that her group is "showing [Parkinson's disease] very effectively and at a molecular level" in fruit flies.

A drug known as L-dopa — the raw material the body uses to create dopamine — can restore the neurotransmitter and motor function in humans. So Bennett gave L-dopa to the tremor-ridden flies and their movements returned to normal.

"If common environmental fungi or molds are further validated as producing toxins that contribute to Parkinson's disease, this will have obvious public health implications," said Joseph Heitman, a chair in Duke University's department of molecular genetics and microbiology.

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