Parkinson's disease may not be a single condition but several biologically distinct disorders requiring different treatments, according to a new study from researchers at VIB and KU Leuven in Belgium.
Using machine learning on fruit fly models, the team identified two main groups and five subgroups of the disease, each potentially driven by different genetic mutations.
Parkinson's, affecting over 8.5 million people globally according to the World Health Organization, is currently treated as one disorder-a one-size-fits-all approach that may explain why many therapies fail.
“When clinicians or patients look at the disease, they see clinical symptoms which unifies people with Parkinson's,” said Patrik Verstreken, head of molecular neurobiology at VIB-KU Leuven. “But when you look under the hood at the molecular level, you see they fall into subcategories. One drug to target all molecular dysfunctions doesn't exist.”
Researchers tested a specific compound that improved symptoms in one subgroup but failed in another, suggesting treatments might need to be subgroup-specific.
While the research is still early and conducted in fruit flies, it points to a future where Parkinson's therapies could be matched to the biological cause of each patient's disease allowing for more effective personalized treatments. The approach might also apply to other complex diseases caused by multiple genetic or environmental factors.