TOPLINE:
Patients with inflammatory arthritis exhibit similar changes in gut microbiota and microbiome-driven pathways, according to new research.
METHODOLOGY:
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Researchers in the Inflammatory Arthritis Microbiome Consortium conducted an observational, cross-sectional study in which they analyzed the metagenomes of stool samples from 221 adults diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, or psoriatic arthritis and 219 healthy adults.
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Recruited adults (ages ranging from 20-93) from clinical locations across the United Kingdom from June 2015 to March 2020
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Accessed how changes in microbiota and shifts in processes centered in the microbiome related to inflammatory arthritis
TAKEAWAY:
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The microbes Escherichia coli and Ruminococcus gnavus were more abundant than expected in patients with inflammatory arthritis.
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Identified microbiome-driven functional pathways associated with disease, including changes in iron sequestration, salvage and biosynthesis of vitamin B, and the encoding of folic acid metabolism pathways.
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Some of these changes “could represent mechanisms for long-term prevention, risk reduction, or treatment,” the authors write.
IN PRACTICE:
This study is too preliminary to have practice application.
SOURCE:
Kelsey N. Thompson, PhD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, led the research. The study was published online today in Science Translational Medicine.
LIMITATIONS:
Considering the individual variations in the human gut microbiome, the study sample is still considered relatively small. Study participants were from one country and mostly White.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was supported by Versus Arthritis; the British National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centres in Birmingham, Newcastle, Oxford, and at the Great Ormond Street Hospital; and The Judith and Stewart Colton Center for Autoimmunity. Study authors report financial relationships with AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Empress Therapeutics, Sanofi, Seres Therapeutics, Vedanta Sciences, and ZOE Nutrition.
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