Intestinal flora influences risk of multiple sclerosis – healing practice

MS risk appears to be linked to certain gut bacteria

For a long time, there has been a connection between the risk of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and certain gut bacteria discussed. A recent study now shows that the gut microbiome influences the risk of MS as well as the course and progression of the disease.

As part of the International Multiple Sclerosis Microbiome Study (iMSMS) were possible connections between the gut microbiome (intestinal flora) and the risk of developing MS as well as the course of the disease and the response to therapy. The results are published in the journal “Cell” released.

New insights into the causes of MS

For a long time no greater success was achieved in the search for the causes of the chronic inflammatory neurological disease MS. That was at the beginning of this year Epstein-Barr virus clearly identified as a potential MS trigger for the first time identified.

Furthermore, there is growing evidence that the intestinal flora could also have an impact on the risk of disease and its course. On 576 MS patients (36% untreated) and 1,152 healthy control persons was examined in the new study possible connections.

Differences in the intestinal flora

The researchers were able to detect a significantly increased proportion of the bacteria Akkermansia muciniphila, Ruthenibacterium lactatiformans, Hungatella hathewayi and Eisenbergiella tayi in the intestinal flora of those affected by MS.

However, the proportion of other species such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Blautia was reduced in MS. also was “the pathway of phytate degradation was overrepresented in untreated MS, while the pyruvate-producing carbohydrate pathways were markedly reduced”the researchers report.

Treatment success dependent on the intestinal flora?

Last but not least, the composition of the intestinal flora, its function and the corresponding release of metabolites also in response to completed therapy changes. According to the researchers, for example, the therapeutic effect of Interferon-β therefore be partly associated with the upregulation of short-chain fatty acid transporters.

And some of the bacteria that have been linked to MS appear to play a role in the processing of plant fibers, for example, whose by-products are found in elevated concentrations in people with MS, the team reports.

According to the researchers, other species apparently have an influence on inflammation and the energy production apparatus the cell. “We were surprised by the number of species present at different levels in MS compared to controls”according to the lead author of the study Professor Sergio Baranzini from the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.

The study results clearly indicate specific connections between the intestinal microbiome and the MS risk, the course and progression of the disease and show functional changes in the intestinal flora as a result of the treatment, the researchers summarize.

Hope for new therapies

These findings also point to the development new therapeutic approaches hope, however, that in the further steps of the International Multiple Sclerosis Microbiome Study it should first be clarified what effect the individual bacteria have, according to the main author.

Now that the bacteria that could play a role in MS have been identified, it is now a matter of finding out which signaling pathways are active, explains Baranzini. (fp)