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…
Dysbiosis of Gut, But Not Ocular Microbiome, Associated with Sjögren’s Syndrome
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…
The Gut Microbiome Influences Postmenopausal Bone Loss
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…
Route of Iron Replacement Doesn’t Impact IBD Activity, Quality of Life
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The route of iron replacement therapy alters the gut microbiome and metabolomics in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the route is unrelated to disease activity and quality of life, according to a new study. “Crohn’s disease patients are extremely fragile to disturbances and one might speculate about consequences in long-term…
Gut-on-a-Chip Provides Insight into Microbiome & Intestinal Inflammation
Researchers have created a microdevice with Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells to aid in studying the human gut microbiome’s role in homeostasis, immune modulation and pathology. Using this gut-on-a-chip, researchers were able to examine in detail the processes they think result in chronic intestinal inflammation…
Oral & Gut Microbiomes Altered in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have alterations in their oral and gut microbiomes that partially normalize with treatment, according to results from a metagenome-wide association study. The microbiota influence metabolic and immune homeostasis, and microbial triggers have been postulated in RA, but little is known about the oral and gut microbiomes of…
How Microbes, Mycobacteria, and Metastases May Alter the Way We Look at Rheumatic Diseases
Studying the relationships between microbes and their hosts, the role for Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) as a vaccine for Type I diabetes, and emotional stress and bone metastases
EULAR 2012: Does Arthritis Start in the Gut?
New research on the ties between bacteria and inflammatory disease.