A probiotic bacterial species is sufficient to increase disease severity in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, a study suggests. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease and a leading cause of nontraumatic neurological disability in young adults. Recent evidence suggests that the gut microbiome modulates disease risk, but the specific bacterial species and the role of host genetics have not been clear. Theresa Montgomery, Dimitry Krementsov and colleagues modulated the gut microbiome of genetically diverse mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for multiple sclerosis. Wild-derived PWD strain of mice and conventional laboratory B6 mice had different levels of susceptibility to EAE and different gut microbiome profiles. Transplantation of gut microbes from PWD mice to B6 mice resulted in more severe EAE compared with transplantation between B6 mice. Additional analysis revealed that Lactobacillus reuteri, a commensal species commonly found in the gut and often used in probiotics, was almost complete absent in B6 mice but highly abundant in PWD mice. Moreover, B6 mice that were colonized with L. reuteri isolated from PWD mice developed more severe EAE, compared with control B6 mice lacking this bacterial species. According to the authors, antibiotic or probiotic strategies to prevent or treat multiple sclerosis should take into account host genetics and the pre-existing gut microbiome.
Article #20-02817: "Interactions between host genetics and gut microbiota determine susceptibility to CNS autoimmunity," by Theresa Montgomery et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Dimitry Krementsov, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; tel: 802-656-9024; e-mail: dkrement@uvm.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences