From Caltech
Bacteria in the gut may play a role in multiple sclerosis, the brain, nervous system and muscle debilitating disorder that afflicts as many as half a million Americans, researchers in Pasadena say, based on their follow-up research on quirks in genetically engineered lab mice. Some of the critters developed an autoimmune disorder similar to MS, an illness that lessened when they left their quarters in the Rose City for special, significantly more sterile facilities elsewhere. Scientists theorized that an environmental factor modulated their disease but could not at the time track it down. But working with germ-free strains of lab mice and after isolating various suspect factors, researchers tested the effects of infections of segmented filamentous bacteria. These bugs were known to cause intestinal inflammation and to provoke the release of Th17 immune system helper cells, which earlier had been implicated in the 'inflammatory cascade' linked to MS. Just one dose of the suspect bugs caused reactions, including the release of Th17 cells in the rodents' gut, brain and central nervous system, provoking MS-like symptoms in the once-healthy mice. Researchers say the gut bacteria, immune cells and inflammations do not cause MS directly; they may play a key role in setting up crucial genetic and environmental factors, including diet, other diseases and stress, that lead to MS.
Genetically engineered mice show links among bacteria, inflammation, autoimmune reaction, MS
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