A new study finds that changes in gut microbes may be linked to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis Which eventually turns into symptoms that can be diagnosed. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Leeds, UK and published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

The researchers found that in people who develop autoimmune conditions, the most frequent changes, or “instabilities,” in specific strains of gut bacteria (of the Prevotellaceae species) were seen 10 months before diagnosis. It also suggests that changes in the gut may indicate a late stage.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks your body’s healthy tissues, causing inflammation in the joints. This inflammation eventually causes pain, swelling and damage to the joints.

However, researchers say it is unclear whether changes or ‘destabilization’ in gut microbes trigger or follow the development of the disease. The findings may help identify people who are at highest risk of rheumatoid arthritis and who need individualized treatment.

For the study, researchers tracked 124 people who were at risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis over a 15-month period; Of which seven were newly diagnosed, 22 were healthy and the remaining were at risk. Stool and blood samples were taken five times during the study period to analyze changes in gut microbes.

Researchers found that people at risk had ‘anticyclic citrullinated proteins’ or anti-CCP, antibodies that are known to attack healthy cells and are specific to rheumatoid arthritis and experienced joint pain in the last three months. Are.

The researchers said 30 of the 124 participants developed the condition. They also found that the diversity of gut microbes was significantly reduced in these 30 compared to healthy participants. In particular, ‘alpha diversity’ which is a common measure of gut health and is closely related to disease state, was reduced.

However, alpha diversity was also reduced in those who did not progress to developing rheumatoid arthritis. The team said that in these participants, autoimmune status was related to anti-CCP antibody levels, those who had lower levels of antibodies specific for rheumatoid arthritis had gut microbiome diversity similar to the healthy group.

Risk factors known to contribute to rheumatoid arthritis, such as genetic and blood-related, were also associated with reduced diversity of worms in the gut.

However, the greatest instability in gut worms was seen in participants who developed a chronic condition up to 10 months before diagnosis, after which the gut profile remained relatively stable.

This suggests that changes in gut microbes may be a late-stage event, he said.

“Individuals at risk for rheumatoid arthritis have a distinct gut microbial composition, including, but not limited to, an abundance of Prevotellaceae species,” the authors wrote. This microbial signature is consistent and related to traditional risk factors.”

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