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

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
Multiple sclerosis patients have a distinct gut microbiota compared to healthy controls
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep28484

Article | OPEN access


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
 
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ScottTriGuy

Stop the harm. Start the research and treatment.
Messages
1,402
Location
Toronto, Canada
I find MS research especially exciting - I guess coz I have a bias in thinking ME is on the same spectrum as MS so I see hope in their research and treatment to inform our research and treatment.

But I'm curious - how, if at all, does this MS research fit with this recent ME study...

https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-016-0171-4

concluding...

Conclusions
Our results indicate dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in this disease and further suggest an increased incidence of microbial translocation, which may play a role in inflammatory symptoms in ME/CFS.


discussed in this thread...

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...-microbiome-in-individuals-with-me-cfs.45333/
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
What i struggle with is... Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

We hear about gut dysbiosis in HIV, in MS and in ME. Which caused what and why?

Is 'fixing the gut' going to fix everything? This sure is not the way treatments are focused for HIV or MS.
 

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
What i struggle with is... Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

We hear about gut dysbiosis in HIV, in MS and in ME. Which caused what and why?

We heard in the "virome study in CFS", that viruses in the deep nervs of the gut are able to reactivate, and then to infect the microbiome, and therefore create dysbiosis.

Maybe CFS means to much viruses, to little bacteria.
 
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Groggy Doggy

Guest
Messages
1,130
What i struggle with is... Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

We hear about gut dysbiosis in HIV, in MS and in ME. Which caused what and why?

Is 'fixing the gut' going to fix everything? This sure is not the way treatments are focused for HIV or MS.

I doubt it. I do not have any pains or issues disgesting food. Regarding folks with gut issues, guess you would need to take samples when they were healthy and compare them (before and after diagnosis HIV/MS/ME).
 
Messages
5,238
Location
Sofa, UK
Quite. Its also not just is this issue cause or consequence? It might also be co-causal or circular ... cause AND consequence.

This is very early days in this kind of research. I expect to see some surprises.
Spot on Alex. Jo Cambridge said at IiME that their current working model is a circular one: gut -> immune -> brain -> gut ( very roughly). It's not at all clear at the moment how these findings fit in, and it looks like it may turn out to be very complex, but I did get the sense at IiME of pieces of the puzzle starting to come together.
 

A.B.

Senior Member
Messages
3,780
My experience is that the gut is seemingly the starting place for some long lasting relapses involving symptoms in the rest of the body. It's possible that gut issues keep stimulating an immune system that is out of whack already for some reason. And it's quite plausible that immune dysfunction contributes to gut issues.

Note: I have a diagnosis of CFS.
 

shannah

Senior Member
Messages
1,429
This particular article regarding Hanson's study clarifies the important point that's being discussed here. None of the other pieces that I've read so far do - but should as without this caveat, it makes it sound fairly trivial and a 'quick and easy fix'.

"Bacteria in the blood will trigger an immune response, which could worsen symptoms.

The researchers have no evidence to distinguish whether the altered gut microbiome is a cause or a whether it is a consequence of disease, Giloteaux added.

In the future, the research team will look for evidence of viruses and fungi in the gut, to see whether one of these or an association of these along with bacteria may be causing or contributing to the illness."

http://www.neuroscientistnews.com/research-news/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-your-gut-not-your-head
 

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
Another study about the relation of MS and the gut:

http://www.futurity.org/gut-bacterias-role-in-multiple-sclerosis/

For example, the disease gets worse after viral infections, and bacterial infections cause an increase in MS symptoms.”

Mazmanian and his colleagues tried to induce MS in animals that were completely devoid of the microbes that normally inhabit the digestive system. “Lo and behold, these sterile animals did not get sick,” he says.

Then the researchers decided to see what would happen if bacteria were reintroduced to the germ-free mice. But not just any bacteria. They inoculated mice with one specific organism, an unculturable bug from a group known as segmented filamentous bacteria.

In prior studies, these bacteria had been shown to lead to intestinal inflammation and, more intriguingly, to induce in the gut the appearance of a particular immune-system cell known as Th17, which is a type of T helper cell—cells that help activate and direct other immune system cells.

Th17 cells induce the inflammatory cascade that leads to multiple sclerosis in animals.

“The question was, if this organism is inducing Th17 cells in the gut, will it be able to do so in the brain and central nervous system?” Mazmanian says. “Furthermore, with that one organism, can we restore to sterile animals the entire inflammatory response normally seen in animals with hundreds of species of gut bacteria?”

Giving the formerly germ-free mice a dose of one species of segmented filamentous bacteria induced Th17 not only in the gut but in the central nervous system and brain—and caused the formerly healthy mice to become ill with MS-like symptoms.

It definitely shows that gut microbes have a strong role in MS, because the genetics of the animals were the same.

Mazmanian and his colleagues don’t, however, suggest that gut bacteria are the direct cause of multiple sclerosis, which is known to be genetically linked. Rather, the bacteria may be helping to shape the immune system’s inflammatory response, thus creating conditions that could allow the disease to develop.

For their part, Th17 cells are needed for the immune system to properly combat infection. Problems only arise when the cells are activated in the absence of infection—just as disease can arise, Mazmanian and others suspect, when the species composition of gut bacteria become imbalanced, say, by changes in diet, because of improved hygiene (which kills off the beneficial bacteria as well as the dangerous ones), or because of stress or antibiotic use.

The Candidatus Arthromitus is such a segmented filamentous bacteria, that induces Th17-respondes. Interestingly, it showed up in my Ubiome-Test dated May 2015, where bioenergetic testing viral infection, that were induced by high dosage probiotics, prebiotics and methylation. This time I had high inflammation. Also proteos were high, firmicutes low.

Then according to testing the viral infection cleared, Ubiome-test didn´t show the Candidatus. Proteobacteria were low, firmicutes high, I only had very minor inflammation and symptoms for 8 months.
Then bioenergetic testing showed again releasing viruses, Ubiome-test showed again the Candidatus, proteos were high again, and firmicutes low. Inflammation and symptoms increased, but they are tolerable.

“Perhaps treatments for diseases such as multiple sclerosis may someday include probiotic bacteria that can restore normal immune function in the gut . . . and the brain.”
 
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TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
I doubt it. I do not have any pains or issues disgesting food. Regarding folks with gut issues, guess you would need to take samples when they were healthy and compare them (before and after diagnosis HIV/MS/ME).
I don't have any pains or issues digesting food either, however, my CFS/ME started after taking Penicillin 25 years ago. Now, 25 years later, after taking Amoxicillin back in March (which is in the Penicillin family) and going through 10 days of antibiotic associated diarrhea, my CFS/ME has gone from mild to severe. So I'm now convinced that my CFS is definitely related to my antibiotic damaged gut microbiome.
 

Groggy Doggy

Guest
Messages
1,130
I don't have any pains or issues digesting food either, however, my CFS/ME started after taking Penicillin 25 years ago. Now, 25 years later, after taking Amoxicillin back in March (which is in the Penicillin family) and going through 10 days of antibiotic associated diarrhea, my CFS/ME has gone from mild to severe. So I'm now convinced that my CFS is definitely related to my antibiotic damaged gut microbiome.
I am sorry to hear the antibiotics caused you to go from mild to severe. Thank you for posting. I try to keep myself isolated to avoid getting an illness that would require an antibiotic. There are too many negative things I keep reading about using them. I hope you improve and go back to mild.
 

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
I try to keep myself isolated to avoid getting an illness that would require an antibiotic. There are too many negative things I keep reading about using them. I hope you improve and go back to mild.

Probiotics release strong antibiotic substances. These substances are called bacteriocine. Taking probiotics could help you to avoid strong antibiotics.
Very much synthetic produces antibiotics are recreated to bacteriocines.

@TigerLilea I also wish you the best for treating the gut. Suggestions from PR regarding gut treatment helped me and help me yet a lot.
 
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Groggy Doggy

Guest
Messages
1,130
Probiotics release strong antibiotic substances. These substances are called bacteriocine. Taking probiotics could help you to avoid strong antibiotics.
Very much synthetic produces antibiotics are recreated to bacteriocines.
.
Thanks for the info. I drink Kombucha for probiotics and see the benefits. I wonder if we are genetically wired to get some types of illnesses, and show no symptoms, but then encounter a trigger (or multiple triggers) to set off the illness?
 

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
Thanks for the info. I drink Kombucha for probiotics and see the benefits. I wonder if we are genetically wired to get some types of illnesses, and show no symptoms, but then encounter a trigger (or multiple triggers) to set off the illness?

I could imagine that intracellular viruses in the nervs (very often coxsackie) create chronic dysbiosis. As the actinobacteria with the bifidobacteria are strong producers of antiviral substances, and of important vitamins like B12 and B9, maybe insufficient actinos impair our defense against viral infections.
I´m happy to read, that you benefit from kombucha. The more different bacterial strand you eat or drink, the diverser is your microbiome.