CHICAGO—At the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, an annual gathering featuring talks by key opinion leaders on the most salient topics for practicing rheumatologists and healthcare providers, Jose U. Scher, MD, director of the Microbiome Center for Rheumatology and Autoimmunity at NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City, was the featured speaker. In his remarks,… [Read More]
Researchers know human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules affect susceptibility to disease in general, and immunological disease in particular. In the case of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), the risk is primarily associated with HLA-B27, with smaller effects from other HLA alleles. Current thinking is that AS is caused by the presence of a genetically primed host because… [Read More]
CHICAGO—The world of rheumatology is beginning to harness the promise of the microbiome, with evidence showing components of the gut may help predict response to medication and may be manipulated to improve how well a treatment works, said Jose Scher, MD, at the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, held April 5–7. “We can truly exploit… [Read More]
Research in type I interferon (IFN) driven mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) suggests the microbiome may play a role in the development of autoimmunity. Additionally, changes in diet may induce protective effects in the gut.1 “Microbes in the gut worsen a lupus model related to the interferon pathway,” says Martin A. Kriegel, MD,… [Read More]
New research by Jose Scher, MD, discussed during the 2019 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, demonstrated how clinicians may be able to modify aspects of the microbiome to predict and boost a patient’s treatment response…... [Read More]
Evidence is accumulating that the microbiome may be an important part of the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases. Two recently published articles report on how translocation of the gut bacterium Enterococcus gallinarum drives autoimmunity in mice and humans, and on the role of other commensal bacteria in triggering immune responses—specifically to the autoantigen Ro60, which… [Read More]
By treating mice with antibiotics, researchers found that alterations in the gut microbiome impaired the mechanical properties of bone and depleted splenic B and T cell populations. The researchers suspect the decrease in bone strength resulted from the change in the immune system…... [Read More]
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Fluctuations in the gut microbiome over time could underlie inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, researchers suggest. “Both the state and the dynamics of the human gut microbiome in healthy individuals are highly personalized. Although cross-sectional studies have revealed dysbiosis of the gut microbiome in IBD, little is known… [Read More]
Research has explored the connection between Sjögren’s syndrome and intestinal dysbiosis associated with ocular mucosal disease. A recent study found that oral antibiotics and desiccating stress lead to extreme changes in the gut microbiota in mice. In patients with Sjögren’s syndrome, researchers found that patients with the most severe keratoconjunctivitis sicca and combined systemic and ocular disease had the lowest diversity of stool microbiota…... [Read More]
Bone health has been successfully improved by using probiotics to influence the gut microbiome in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. New research has gained insight into this process, uncovering that sex steroid depletion increases gut permeability resulting in inflammation and pathology in mice. Treatment with probiotics also prevents this increase in gut permeability and bone loss associated with sex steroid depletion…... [Read More]