Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) can reverse the amyloid state of fibrin seen or induced in Parkinson’s disease: implications for its aetiology

The thrombin-induced polymerisation of fibrinogen to form fibrin is well established as a late stage of blood clotting. In recent work, we showed that the presence of tiny amounts of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) could cause these clots to adopt an amyloid form, that could be observed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) or via the fluorescence of thioflavin-T. This could be prevented by the prior addition of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP). We had also observed by SEM this unusual clotting in the blood of patients with Parkinsons disease (PD). We here show that this too can be prevented by LBP, thereby implicating such inflammatory microbial cell wall products in the aetiology of the disease. This may lead to novel treatment strategies in PD designed to target microbes and their products.