January 9, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Differences in Bacteria, Viruses in MS Patients’ Guts Seen in Study The amounts of more than 60 species of bacteria are altered in the gut in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with those without the disease, a new study reports. Researchers also identified differences in the makeup of viruses that infect gut bacteria in patients, which they said may…
December 10, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS National MS Society Funds 13 New Research Projects The National MS Society has announced it is funding 13 new research projects that seek to better understand the risk factors involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) development and progression. The funding ā nearly $7 million in total ā also will go to “rescue” 22 MS-related research projects that…
September 8, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Serious Infections in Adolescence Linked to Increased MS Risk Experiencing serious infections during adolescence is tied to an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life, but those occurring in childhood don’t increase MS risk, according to a new Swedish study. The study also found that certain types of infections, especially those that affect the central…
August 17, 2021 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Probiotics Likely To Be of Help With RRMS, Meta-analysis Finds Probiotic supplements could ease disability, lessen depression, and improve overall health in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), according to an analysis of four randomized clinical trials. Physicians working with these patients might recommend “confirmed probiotic supplements” to help manage “MS concerns,” its scientists wrote, while noting that studies…
June 4, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Gut Mucus May Help Ease MS, Other Neurological Diseases, Review Suggests Tweaking the protective properties of the gut mucus, a layer lining the inside of the gut, to boost the proliferation of good bacteria potentially could halt the development of neurological disorders, like multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a review of more than 100 studies. The review, ā…
February 14, 2020 Columns by John Connor And the Biofilm Goes to … The medical profession must be sick and tired of patients diagnosing themselves via the wonders of the internet. But as a patient who’s sick and tired, you eventually have to. Medicine is full of orthodoxies that are incredibly hard to shake. When you find yourself at the edge of these…
November 25, 2019 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Gut Microbiome Changes Evident in Newly Diagnosed MS Patients, Study Says A DNA analysis to identify changes in the gut microbiome in people newly diagnosed withĀ multiple sclerosisĀ ā who have yet to begin using disease-modifying therapies ā showed that all, regardless of ethnic background, have an abundance of the bacteria group Clostridia compared to people…
May 16, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AANAM ā Gut Bacteria May Play Role in Pediatric MS, Studies Suggest As strange as it is to think about, many bacteria live in the human body, most of which are found in the gut (often referred to as the gut microbiome). These bodily roommates affect health in many ways that are only beginning to be understood.Ā …
March 5, 2019 News by Jonathan Grinstein #ACTRIMS2019 – Bacterial Epsilon Toxin Found in MS Patients Triggers MS Disease Features in Rodents The levels of epsilon toxin are increased in multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) patients, and its presence in laboratory rodents replicated some aspects of disease activity, according to data presented at the 4thĀ AnnualĀ Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum. The researchers suggested that the epsilon…
October 19, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Enzyme Produced by Gut Bacteria Linked to T-cell Attacks on Myelin in Study An enzyme produced by bacteria in the gut was seen to activate immune cells linked to the development and progression ofĀ multiple sclerosis, a finding that mayĀ pave the way for a vaccine that might alter autoimmune mechanisms involved in MS. The study, ā…
February 23, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD Pilot Study Is Testing Whether Mediterranean Diet Can Help MS Patients New York researchers are doing a pilot study of whether a Mediterranean diet can reduce multiple sclerosis symptoms and improve patients’ quality of life.Ā Dr. Ilana B. Katz Sand, an assistant professor of neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,Ā is leading…
January 15, 2018 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Probiotics Increase Punch of Treatments That Decrease Inflammation in MS, Study Shows Probiotics increased the punch of treatments that decrease the inflammation associated with multiple sclerosis, a study found. Using the supplements to add helpful bacteria to the gut may be a way to improve patients’ Ā outcomes, researchers added. The team from Harvard University-affiliated Brigham and Womenās Hospital did not…
November 22, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Gut Bacteria Contribute to MS Onset and Development, Rutgers Mouse Study Shows Exposure to certain gut bacteria at a young age may cause multiple sclerosis (MS) and fuel its progression, a new mouse study shows. The study, āGut dysbiosis breaks immunological tolerance toward the central nervous system during young adulthood,ā appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National…
October 16, 2017 News by Ana Belo van Wijk, PhD One More Small Piece of the Puzzle on the Role of Gut Micro-organisms in MS Researchers found a significant increase in some types of gut bacteria and lower levels of an anti-inflammatory factor in untreated multiple sclerosis twins. The study offered working evidence that components of gut microbiota contribute to autoimmune diseases like MS. Researchers published their articleĀ in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.It was titledĀ "Gut microbiota from multiple sclerosis patients enables spontaneous autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice." Our gut contains millions of good bacteria, fungi, bacteria-like archaea, and viruses that we can't live without. Although there are 300 to 1,000 species of bacteria in our gut, most of our intestines is populated with 30 or 40 species. RecentĀ increases in knowledge and technical advancements have made it possible for scientists to measure the equilibrium between different species in the gut, and analyze their influence on our health. One discovery was a link between the balance of bacteria in the intestines and autoimmune diseases like MS. A team of researchers decided to see if differences in gut microbiota play a role in MS progression and perhaps its onset. They analyzedĀ the feces of 34 identical twins, one of each who had MS and one of each who didn't. They used twins to try to reduce genetic and environmental differences' influence on the onset of the disease. All of those with MS were Caucasian andĀ had grown up with their healthy twin to adulthood. Researchers analyzed the type and abundance of microorganisms in the feces of both the MS-affected and healthy twins. They found no differences in species or amount of bacteria between siblings. What they did find was a significant increase in some types of bacteria, such as Akkermansia, in untreated twins with MS. The team transplanted fecal samples from MS-affected and healthy twins into a mice model of MS called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. These animals have an inflammatory myelin-destroying disease of the central nervous system that is comparable to human MS. Myelin is a protective coating around neurons whose loss is associated with MS. MS twin-derived gut microbiota caused a significantly higher amount of mice to develop a relapsingāremitting autoimmunity similar to MS than healthy twin-derived microbiota. When researchers measured the microbial profiles of the mice's feces, they found significant differences in amounts of bacteria.Ā The most important difference was inĀ Sutterella, an organism that helpsĀ protect against inflammation. SutturellaĀ levels were significantly reduced in the feces of mice transplanted with MS twin-derived microbiota compared with feces from healthy twins. The team alsoĀ measured the mice's immune cells and the proteins they release. They discovered that immune cells in mice with MS-twin feces transplants produced less of the anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 than immune cells from mice colonized with healthy-twin samples. IL-10, or interleukin 10, is an important immune protein. When researchers transplanted the feces of healthy twins into the mice, then gave them an antibody that blocks the function of IL-10, they also became sick. This indicated that IL-10 may temper autoimmunity in the central nervous system. The team then measured the twins' immune blood components. They found that the healthy twin had higher quantities of IL-10 than the MS-affected one. This isĀ a complex issue in which very subtle differences of type and amount of bacteria in the gut can have considerable consequences, they added. Ā
September 14, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Specific Gut Bacteria May Drive Progression of Multiple Sclerosis, Study Finds Specific gut bacteria may drive the progression of multiple sclerosis, according to a study showing that two bacterial species made the disease worse in a mouse model of MS. Researchers at the University of California, San FranciscoĀ also pinpointed a species ā found in lower numbers in MS patients ā…
July 15, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Gut Microbiome in MS Patients Seen to Favor Inflammatory Bacteria in Study A link indeed appears to exist between multiple sclerosis (MS) and unusual changes in theĀ bacterial composition ofĀ the gut, according to researchers atĀ Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). In their study, “Alterations of the human gut microbiome in multiple sclerosis,” published in the journalĀ Nature Communications,…
May 18, 2016 News by InĆŖs Martins, PhD Gut Microbiota in Young MS Patients Is Higher in Pro-Inflammatory Bacteria Than Usual, Study Finds Children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) differ from others in the composition of their gut flora, withĀ higherĀ levelsĀ of inflammation-causing bacteria and lower levelsĀ of anti-inflammatory bacteria, according to a study fromĀ Ā theĀ University of British Columbia, Canada. The findings, supportingĀ previous hypothesesĀ that the composition of the gut microbial community could influence the development…
May 18, 2015 News by admin Gut Bacteria: Key to MS? There has been a great deal of recent interest in the connection between nervous system function and the complex bacteria that are found in the gastrointestinal system, known as the gut microbiome. Some scientists believe that differences in the type of bacteria found in the gut mayĀ underlie neurological disease. In…