Multiple sclerosis patients have a distinct gut microbiota compared to healthy controls

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease, the etiology of which involves both genetic and environmental factors. The exact nature of the environmental factors responsible for predisposition to MS remains elusive; however, it’s hypothesized that gastrointestinal microbiota might play an important role in pathogenesis of MS. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate whether gut microbiota are altered in MS by comparing the fecal microbiota in relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) (n = 31) patients to that of age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 36). Phylotype profiles of the gut microbial populations were generated using hypervariable tag sequencing of the V3–V5 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Detailed fecal microbiome analyses revealed that MS patients had distinct microbial community profile compared to healthy controls. We observed an increased abundance of Psuedomonas, Mycoplana, Haemophilus, Blautia, and Dorea genera in MS patients, whereas control group showed increased abundance of Parabacteroides, Adlercreutzia and Prevotella genera. Thus our study is consistent with the hypothesis that MS patients have gut microbial dysbiosis and further study is needed to better understand their role in the etiopathogenesis of MS.

Metabolic alterations in multiple sclerosis and the impact of vitamin D supplementation

“…Levels of benzoate (produced by bacterial metabolism of phenylalanine and polyphenols) and its metabolites were reduced in MS patients. Other xenobiotic compounds also differed in MS patients (e.g., coffee/xanthine metabolites), which could reflect changes in metabolism of the gut microbiota, a recently identified contributor to MS (25,26). However, due to the cross-sectional design of this study, reverse causation cannot be eliminated.…”

CD4+ T cells from multiple sclerosis patients respond to a commensal‐derived antigen

“…Specifically relating to the CNS, dysbiosis appears in both EAE and human MS. Recent studies show that patients exhibit a shift in the relative abundances of certain genera 4, 5, 6. For example, those with MS harbor increased levels of Blautia (from the phylum Firmicutes ) and decreased Parabacteroides (from the phylum Bacteroidetes ) compared to healthy controls 5.…”

“…Recent studies show that patients exhibit a shift in the relative abundances of certain genera 4, 5, 6. For example, those with MS harbor increased levels of Blautia (from the phylum Firmicutes ) and decreased Parabacteroides (from the phylum Bacteroidetes ) compared to healthy controls 5. Such shifts could influence the overall ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes which is known to have downstream physiological and immunological effects.…”

“…Importantly, MS patients with active disease and those who have yet to undergo treatment have altered abundances of specific microflora within their gut microbiome, whereas patients in remission or undergoing treatment, respectively, harbor microflora that is more similar to controls 5, 6. Thus, a reduction in disease severity in the brain positively correlated with the correction of altered gut microflora (dysbiosis).…”

Feeding Your Microbiome Well

“…In two studies of humans with multiple sclerosis, patients with multiple sclerosis had a microbiome distinct from control subjects [6][7][8] . Likewise, in a study of rheumatoid arthritis patients, analysis of the microbiome found that the gut and oral microbiome was distinct between controls and patients with rheumatoid arthritis 9 .…”