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In early experiments with mice, scientists have found a bacteria living in the gut may trigger an immune response that can result in rheumatoid arthritis. “It may eventually be possible to ameliorate or protect from human autoimmune diseases, arthritis and others, by treating with probiotics, antibiotics or other inhibitors of bacterial products,” Mathis said. Diane Mathis is a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School.
For the study, Mathis and colleagues raised mice genetically prone to developing arthritis in a germ-free environment. These mice had fewer arthritis-causing antibodies than mice raised in a normal environment.
However, when the mice were put in a non-germ-free environment and had segmented filamentous bacteria placed in their stomachs, which is a common gut bacteria, the animals quickly started making antibodies and developed arthritis within four days, the researchers found.
“Rather, the bacteria trigger a program to play out on a genetically susceptible background.” The immune system reacts to these cells as threatening antibodies that in turn trigger rheumatoid arthritis, Mathis explained.
The notion that bacteria in the stomach can affect the development of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis is not that farfetched since these bacteria have been linked to irritable bowel syndrome and other such diseases.
For example, stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria and successfully treated with antibiotics. Klimas noted that a severe type of arthritis called reactive arthritis, formerly known as Reiter’s syndrome, is caused by a genetic susceptibility and triggered by infection. In the future, changing the bacteria in the gut could prevent or treat some of these diseases, Klimas said.
