The pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) involves the accumulation of aggregated forms of α-synuclein in the body. The location for the initiation of misfolded forms of α-synuclein is now a contentious issue, what was once thought to be a disease of the central nervous system (CNS) now appears to involve multiple organs in the body. In particular, the two regions in the body where the nervous system is exposed to the environment, the olfactory bulb and the enteric nervous system, are now thought to play an important role in the initial phase of the disease. Epidemiological studies point to the gastrointestinal tract, including the appendix, as a potential site for the misfolding and transmission of α-synuclein, with the vagus nerve providing a conduit between the gut and brain. A growing body of animal studies also support this pathway, implicating the transmission of pathological α-synuclein from outside the CNS in the development of PD.

帕金森氏病（PD）的发病机理涉及α-突触核蛋白在体内的聚集形式的积累。起始错误折叠形式的α-突触核蛋白的位置现在是一个有争议的问题，曾经被认为是中枢神经系统（CNS）的疾病现在似乎涉及人体的多个器官。尤其是，现在人们认为，在人体的神经系统暴露于环境的两个区域中，嗅球和肠神经系统在疾病的初始阶段起着重要的作用。流行病学研究指出，胃肠道（包括阑尾）是α-突触核蛋白错误折叠和传播的潜在位点，迷走神经提供了肠道和大脑之间的导管。越来越多的动物研究也支持这一途径，