Association of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease (AD) worldwide. The prevalence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in PD patients is high. We conducted this comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the association between SIBO and PD.

A comprehensive literature search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases was performed to identify studies correlating SIBO with PD. Studies were screened, and relevant data were extracted and analysed. We calculated the pooled prevalence of SIBO in all individuals with PD and compared the prevalence of SIBO between the two groups to calculate an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Egger's test was performed to assess publication bias.

Eleven studies with 973 participants met the inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of SIBO in patients with PD was 46% (95% CI 36-56). A random-effects model was applied given the heterogeneity (I² = 83%) detected among the studies. Egger's test indicated no publication bias (p = 0.0657). Subgroup analyses showed that the prevalence of SIBO was greater in studies including patients diagnosed using the lactulose hydrogen breath test (LBT) (51%, 95% CI 37-65) than in those including patients diagnosed using the glucose hydrogen breath test (GBT) (35%, 95% CI 20-50), and the prevalence of SIBO in PD was highest (55%, 95% CI 38-72) in patients diagnosed by the LBT and GBT. The prevalence of SIBO was 52% (95% CI 40-64) among patients from Western countries and 33% (95% CI 22-43) among patients from Eastern countries. The pooled OR of SIBO in PD patients compared with healthy controls was 5.22 (95% CI 3.33-8.19, p < 0.00001). We did not identify an obvious predictor of SIBO in PD patients.

In conclusion, our meta-analysis found a strong association between SIBO and PD with approximately half of PD patients testing positive for SIBO. These relationships significantly differed based on diagnostic test and geographic area.