advertisement
Science News
from research organizations

Lupus strongly linked to imbalances in gut microbiome

Date:
February 19, 2019
Source:
NYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine
Summary:
The disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) -- marked by the attack on joints, skin, and kidneys by the body's immune system -- is linked to an abnormal mix of bacteria in the gut.
Share:
advertisement

FULL STORY

The disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) -- marked by the attack on joints, skin, and kidneys by the body's immune system -- is linked to an abnormal mix of bacteria in the gut. This is according to a new study led by scientists at NYU School of Medicine.

While bacterial imbalances have been tied to many immune-related diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, and some cancers, the authors of the current study say their experiments are the first detailed evidence of a link between bacterial imbalances in the gut and potentially life-threatening forms of SLE.

The new study, publishing in theAnnals of Rheumatic Diseasesonline Feb. 19, showed that 61 women diagnosed with SLE had roughly five times more gut bacteria known asRuminococcus gnavus, than 17 women of similar ages and racial backgrounds who did not have the disease and were healthy. Lupus is more common in women than in men.

Moreover, study results showed that disease "flares," which can range from instances of skin rash and joint pain to severe kidney dysfunction requiring dialysis, closely tracked major increases inR. gnavusbacterial growth in the gut, alongside the presence in blood samples of immune proteins called antibodies, specifically shaped to attach to the bacteria. Study participants with kidney flares had especially high levels of antibodies toR. gnavus.

作者说specific causes of lupus, which affects as many as 1.5 million Americans, are unknown, although many suspect that genetic factors are partly responsible.

"Our study strongly suggests that in some patients bacterial imbalances may be driving lupus and its associated disease flares," says study senior investigator and immunologist Gregg Silverman, MD. "Our results also point to leakages of bacteria from the gut as a possible immune system trigger of the disease, and suggest that the internal gut environment may therefore play a more critical role than genetics in renal flares of this all too often fatal disease," says Silverman, a professor in the departments of Medicine and Pathology at NYU Langone Health. He also suspects that antibodies toR. gnavusprovoke a "continuous and unrelenting" immune attack on organs involved in flares.

Among the more practical consequences of the new research, Silverman says, could be the development of relatively simple blood tests to detect antibodies to leaked bacteria, which in turn could also be used to diagnose and track lupus progression and therapy, even in the disease's earliest stages. Current tests, he says, are often inconclusive and rely on signs and symptoms that only appear after the disease has already advanced.

advertisement

Silverman, who also serves as associate director of rheumatology at NYU Langone, cautions that larger studies are needed to confirm how these bacteria may cause lupus. But if future experiments show similarly positive results, then it could result in shifts from current approaches to treating the disease, which focus on immune-suppressing anticancer medications to relieve symptoms and injury to the kidneys.

If the study team's results are validated, then some current treatments may actually be causing harm if they impair overall immune defenses against infection.

Instead, Silverman says, future treatments could include inexpensive probiotics or dietary regimens that impedeR. gnavusgrowth and prevent flares. Fecal transplants from healthy individuals would also be a possibility.

Alternatively, Silverman says, new treatments could also be used to promote growth ofBacteroides uniformis, bacteria thought to hinder growth ofR. gnavusin the gut and whose numbers decreased by as much as fourfold in study participants with lupus when compared to those without the disease. Experts say that over a 1,000 different types of bacteria make up the human gut microbiome.

For the study, researchers analyzed blood and stool samples from participants. Researchers were surprised to find strong immune antibody reactions toR. gnavusin the blood because the gut lining prevents the bacterium from escaping to other parts of the body. Researchers say this suggests that small pieces of the bacteria, known as antigens, must have "leaked" into the gut to trigger the immune reaction.

Funding support for the study was provided by National Institute of Health grants R01 AI090118, R01 AI068063, R01 AR42455, P50 AR070591, HHSN272201400019C, N01 AR42271, R01 AR061569, and P50 AR070591. Additional funding support was provided by the Lupus Research Institute, the Judith and Stewart Colton Autoimmunity Center at NYU Langone, and the P. Robert Majumder Charitable Trust.

Story Source:

Materialsprovided byNYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine.注:内容可以编辑风格and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Doua Azzouz, Aidana Omarbekova, Adriana Heguy, Dominik Schwudke, Nicolas Gisch, Brad H. Rovin, Roberto Caricchio, Jill P. Buyon, Alexander V. Alekseyenko, Gregg J. Silverman.Lupus nephritis is linked to disease-activity associated expansions and immunity to a gut commensal.Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 2019; annrheumdis-2018-214856 DOI:10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-214856

Cite This Page:

NYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine. "Lupus strongly linked to imbalances in gut microbiome." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 February 2019. /releases/2019/02/190219080742.htm>.
NYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine. (2019, February 19). Lupus strongly linked to imbalances in gut microbiome.ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 6, 2023 from www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/02/190219080742.htm
NYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine. "Lupus strongly linked to imbalances in gut microbiome." ScienceDaily. www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/02/190219080742.htm (accessed September 6, 2023).

Explore More
from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES