The amount of two bacteria present in our body, Bifidobacterium and Akkermansiait is related to the seriousness of the Multiple sclerosis (EM). A study by a team of the Iow UniversityA (USA) shows that this inflammatory and demyelinizing disease of the central nervous system has a growing link with intestinal microbiome, although so far a consensus has not been reached on the key microbial markers that could help in their diagnosis and treatment.
The team, led by Ashutosh Mangalamused metagenomic sequencing of feces to characterize the intestinal microbiota in 45 patients with recurrent-river multiple sclerosis and 51 healthy controls matched by age and sex.
The results, which were also validated in a mouse model, showed that Blautia and Akkermansia bacteria play a fundamental role in the disease, while Prevotella Copri dominated the microbiota of healthy controls.
In the animal model, a low proportion of bifidobacterium to akkermansia was associated with a greater seriousness of the disease.
The study, published in the magazine ‘Pnas‘, provides new data that could improve both the diagnosis and the treatment of multiple sclerosis, since the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the disease is increasingly recognized as a relevant environmental factor.
Researchers suggest that this proportion of bacteria could become a key marker for the prognosis and treatment of EM.
In statements a Science Media CenterPablo Villoslada, head of the Neurology Service of the Hospital del Mar (Barcelona), points out that, although there are already several studies that point to alterations in the intestinal microbiota in autoimmune diseases such as EM, there is still no consensus on what microbial alteration is the most relevant. “The serious implication is that, if the species of bacteria that predispose to EM are definitively identified, antibiotic -based treatments, intestinal flora and even diet to prevent it or improve its clinical course could be developed,” he says.
For its part, Toni Gabaldón, of the Biomedical Research Institute (IRB Barcelona), although positively values the study, however, it warns that the results in humans and mice point to complex relationships and, in some cases, different, as the least involvement of Akkermansia in humans. «The study focuses on the possible role of a few species, which simplifies a more complex reality«, He points out.
Despite these challenges, the discovery of the critical proportion of Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia opens new doors in the understanding of the intestinal disbiosis mechanisms in EM, suggesting possible ways for future therapies and diagnoses based on the intestinal microbiota.
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