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Gut bugs: friends or foes?

November 16 2014 6:01 PM ET via RheumReports RheumReports

The human body contains trillions of bacterial cells collectively known as the microbiome. Jayne Danska and Jose Scher in today's session, Micobiome in Health and Disease, provided an elegant summary of our current understanding of the interaction between the microbiome, genetics, the environment, sex and disease. 

The composition of the microbiome differs between individuals and in different autoimmune diseases. Mice in a germ-free environment do not develop RA-like disease and bacteria are required to generate Th17 responses, which are critical for RA pathogenesis. 

The gut of newly diagnosed RA patients that have never been treated have a very high proportion of a particular bug, Prevotella copri, and this decreases after treatment - but what is the cause or effect? Antibody responses to commensurate organisms differ based on autoimmune disease and this may be a new method for early disease detection. 

In a diabetic mouse model, gut microbiome transfers from male mice to females protect against autoimmunity and this appears to be dependent on testosterone - who knew that taking crap from men could actually cure RA?!


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About the Author

Dr. Lillian Barra
Dr. Lillian Barra

Lillian Barra is an Assistant Professor at Western University. Her research interests include autoimmune vascular disease and the role of autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis.

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