While the bacteria in the intestine are helpful for digesting food and fighting infections, they have long been suspected to play an essential role in triggering rheumatoid arthritis. This chronic inflammatory disorder affects the joints.

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a link between an abundance of specific gut bacteria and the triggering of an immune response against a person's tissue. They also found that this happens even before the clinical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis appear. They published their findings in a recent study in Science Advances.

"As we age, our gut bacteria and their byproducts change, which impacts our immune system," says senior author Veena Taneja, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic immunologist. There is a known link between imbalances in gut bacteria, aging, and rheumatoid arthritis, but it is challenging to prove this connection in humans. "This research sheds light on the complex relationship between gut microbiota and rheumatoid arthritis."

Dr. Taneja explains that it is difficult to determine if gut microbiota is the cause of the disease in patients because an autoimmune response precedes the onset of clinical symptoms in patients by one to 10 years.

"The gut microbiome may hold the key to understanding healthy aging, how to avoid chronic diseases, and may lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment," says Dr Taneja.

Using a preclinical model (experimenting in the lab and not on patients), the researchers determined that the gut bacteria Eggerthella lenta causes an autoimmune response before the onset of the clinical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. In that response, the immune system produces autoantibodies that mistakenly target and attack the body's tissues and cells instead of foreign invaders, such as bacteria or viruses.

This same microbe also reduces amino acids such as arginine, citrulline and tryptophan metabolites to levels more similar to that of much older people, who see a gradual deterioration of their immune system due to aging.

In addition to their findings, researchers noted a connection between Eggerthella lenta and higher levels of these autoantibodies in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis, highlighting the importance of considering gender-specific factors in the disease.

Informing patient care

Rheumatoid arthritis has a genetic predisposition; however, many at risk may not know whether they are at risk for severe rheumatoid arthritis.

This biomarker may help diagnose severe rheumatoid arthritis and assess its progression.

The research suggests that clinicians could use measurements of metabolic byproducts induced by these gut bacteria as a marker for the severity of the disease. In familial cases and people harboring rheumatoid arthritis-susceptible genes, the researchers say that sequencing bacteria, autoantibodies and metabolites — especially in healthy females — may help predict the likelihood of them developing rheumatoid arthritis.

Future directions

Researchers plan to work on how clinicians can use Eggerthella lenta in their diagnoses, especially in women. They will study whether targeting it using antibiotics or specific genes and metabolites can affect preclinical autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis. They are also exploring the link between Eggerthella lenta and its effect on aging.

Disclosures

The technology has been patented in 11,634,744 "Methods and Materials for Assessing and Treating Arthritis." The patent holders have received no royalties.

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DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My friend insists that taking a probiotic supplement has helped her lose 50 pounds by keeping her gut bacteria in check. Will taking a probiotic in conjunction with a balanced diet and exercise help me lose weight?

ANSWER: It is true that the gut bacterial population in people who are obese differs from the population in people who are lean. Whether this difference contributes to obesity or is a consequence of obesity is unknown.

So far, research hasn't yielded clear answers. Although taking a probiotic is unlikely to cause harm, it may not help fight obesity.

First and foremost, it is important to understand that weight gain is essentially a function of energy imbalance. You gain weight when you take in more calories than your body burns. And there is some evidence that bacteria in the gut play a role in how efficiently the body extracts energy from the food that reaches the small intestine.

Your digestive tract, also called the gut, contains trillions of bacteria. Many of those bacteria play useful roles in the body, including metabolizing nutrients from food. While much of the bacteria in the gut are valuable, some are not. Studies have been performed about how an imbalance between good and bad gut bacteria could contribute to certain medical disorders.

Eating foods such as yogurt and sauerkraut that contain probiotics — a type of "good" bacteria — or taking a probiotic supplement have been credited with health benefits. Although more research is needed, there is some evidence that probiotics might improve gut health.

To date, however, the only studies that have shown convincing results that changing the composition of gut bacteria — sometimes called the gut microbiome — affects weight have been performed using germ-free mice. In humans, on the other hand, data are murky when it comes to the role of probiotics in helping with weight loss.

An analysis of the results of published research studies that have investigated probiotics and weight loss revealed no clear answers. That is partly because research methods varied widely among those studies, and a range of different probiotics were included.

What is clear is that the most important factor determining the makeup of the gut microbiome is diet. But, again, that calls into question which comes first. Does obesity lead to a certain type of microbiome? Or does a certain type of microbiome lead to obesity? At this point, this is unknown.

What is known is that you can take steps to maintain a healthier gut microbiome, and these steps also should help with your weight-loss journey. For example, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables appears to help good bacteria in your gut thrive. It also can be beneficial in filling you up and limiting overeating of snack foods and other unnecessary calories. Also, limiting fat, sugar and animal sources of protein can help maintain a healthier gut microbiome, too, because research shows that diets high in those foods correlate with a more unfavorable bacteria makeup in the gut.

Taking a probiotic supplement also may improve the health of your gut microbiome, but it is unclear what role those supplements play in weight loss. The most reliable way to lose weight is to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly, so you're burning more calories than you're consuming. I always recommend that you direct specific questions about diet and exercise to your primary health care team. — Dr. Meera Shah, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

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Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (0:59) is in the downloads at the end of the post. Please "Courtesy: Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.

"If you know what kind of bacteria are present in the gut, we can predict what would happen after you eat different food products and how your blood glucose levels may change," says Dr. Purna Kashyap, co-director of the Microbiome Program at Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine.

More research is still needed to see how it can improve your health, but the initial results are promising.

"Instead of trying to change the bacteria that are present in your gut, you just adapt your diet to best suit that group of bacteria," says Dr. Kashyap.

And along with genetics and environment, it could provide a new tool in the toolbox for providers when it comes to improving your health through diet.

"It's a tool which was missing for the longest time or it was ignored for the longest time," says Dr. Kashyap. "And now we are realizing that we really should not be leaving it aside. It should be considered when we are trying to optimize patients' management."

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Space-age technologies, DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence – all tools for discovery that Nicholas Chia, Ph.D. and his team are using to push the envelope and improve care for complex diseases like colorectal cancer. They’re collaborating with scientists from NASA to uncover how the microbiome – the trillions of microbes in and on the body – triggers early stages of disease. Their goal is to develop better tools to prevent, screen and treat these complex conditions.

“We’re pushing the envelope by using the same technologies to understand the role of microbes in disease that NASA uses to explore life on Mars. At the same time, DNA sequencing has revolutionized our ability to identify different bacterial strains and their role in moving from a healthy to a disease state. Now artificial intelligence is enabling us to draw together and analyze large amounts of genomic, biological and ecological data to gain new insights,” says Dr. Chia.

Dr. Chia is the newly named Bernard and Edith Waterman co-director for the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program.

Where does colorectal cancer begin?    

“In complex diseases like colorectal cancer, there aren’t just one or two players. In fact, multiple factors lead to the development of many subtypes of the disease. That’s why it is so important to take a holistic approach – we’re exploring the role of the environment, genetics and the microbiome in increasing risk for disease,” says Dr. Chia.

Through his work, Dr. Chia hopes to improve individualized treatments for colorectal cancer – the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women.

“Since joining Mayo Clinic, I have focused on how microbes interact with cells to cause events like toxicity, DNA damage and inflammation – all which can serve as triggers for changes that can lead to cancer,” says Dr. Chia.

Dr. Chia’s work will also shed light on possible links between the microbiome and many other diseases.

“We hope to understand how your microbial ecology gives rise to susceptibility to disease, how those pathogens may cause colorectal and other cancers, and how your microbiome modulates, activates or deactivates your immune system in important ways in diseases that range from autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis to allergies,” says Dr. Chia

Bridging the gap – from ecology and evolution to clinical care

After earning his undergraduate and doctorate degrees in physics, Dr. Chia pursued post-doctoral studies in ecology and microbiology

He explains his early interest in microbiome research by recounting a friendly argument he won with his research mentors.

“During my training, I saw how the theories we were using in the basic sciences could be applied to medicine. However, my research colleagues had doubts. As the National Institutes of Health launched the microbiome research initiative, my interest in the role of the microbiome in our health grew. Eventually, my research mentors agreed, recognizing how a systems biology approach could uncover complex factors driving disease,” says Dr. Chia.

Dr. Chia and his Mayo team’s recent collaboration with NASA Astrobiology Institute prove his point.

Their research revealed that kidney stones grow in dynamic ways similar to those observed in Mammoth Hot Springs rock formations at Yellowstone.

“This is an important discovery that could improve care for 1 in 10 Americans who suffer from kidney stones, a condition that can cause severe pain. Our next step is to examine the microbiome’s role in this process so that we can intervene and prevent stones from forming,” says Dr. Chia.

As microbiome research moves forward, Dr. Chia believes the team science approach will help push the envelope on discovery.

“We’re just beginning to unlock the mysteries of the microbiome. With our team members’ diverse perspectives and the application of new technologies, the road to discovery lies wide open.”

Read more about Dr. Chia’s research on kidney stones here.

Testing the bugs within to maintain health, detect and treat disease

Read a related article, highlighting Microbiome Program co-director Purna Kashyap, M.B.B.S. and his research. Learn how technologies developed in the microbiome lab are already improving clinical care for undiagnosed infections and beyond.

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ROCHESTER, Minn. – A preliminary study published in the August issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggests that, for some people, specific activities of gut bacteria may be responsible for their inability to lose weight, despite adherence to strict diet and exercise regimens.

“We know that some people don’t lose weight as effectively as others, despite reducing caloric consumption and increasing physical activity,” says Purna Kashyap, M.B.B.S., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and co-senior author of the study. Dr. Kashyap and his colleagues wondered if there may be other factors at work that prevented these patients from responding to traditional weight-loss strategies.

“Gut bacteria have the capacity to break down complex food particles, which provides us with additional energy. And this is normally is good for us,” says Vandana Nehra, M.D, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and co-senior author of the study. “However, for some individuals trying to lose weight, this process may become a hindrance.” Drs. Kashyap, Nehra and their colleagues decided to test if certain functions performed by gut bacteria that provide people with more energy may be responsible for the inability of some individuals to lose weight.

The Mayo Clinic research team collected and analyzed gut bacteria samples from a group of 26 participants enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Obesity Treatment Research Program between August and September 2013. They found that gut bacteria among individuals who did not lose weight were different from gut bacteria in patients who lost weight. Specifically, the bacteria Phascolarctobacterium was associated with weight loss success, while the bacteria Dialister was associated with failure to lose weight. More importantly, the increased ability to use certain carbohydrates was associated with failure to lose as much weight. “This suggested to us that gut bacteria may possibly be an important determinant of weight loss in response to diet and lifestyle changes,” Dr. Kashyap says.

Dr. Kashyap emphasizes that this is a preliminary finding in a small study, and more research is needed to confirm the role of gut bacteria in weight loss. “While we need to replicate these findings in a bigger study, we now have an important direction to pursue in terms of potentially providing more individualized strategies for people who struggle with obesity,” Dr. Kashyap says.

Funding for the study was provided by the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine.

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, comprehensive care to everyone who needs healing. Learn more about Mayo Clinic. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network.

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“Don’t miss seeing the forest by focusing only on the trees,” explains Jaeyun Sung, Ph.D., a systems biologist who recently joined the Microbiome Program within Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine. That is Dr. Sung’s approach to exploring how the microbiome – the tens of trillions of microbes within and on our bodies – affects health and disease.

“I focus on the community of bacteria, not just individual microbes, along with genetic and environmental factors, such as the foods we eat, to understand what is taking place inside this complex system in our bodies. Watching how groups of microbes interact with each other – that’s where the magic happens. This is important because we know that changes in the microbiome definitely affect our digestive health and immune system, and possibly even our mood and behavior. It has also been linked to many diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer,” says Dr. Sung.

The ultimate goal – manipulating the microbiome with natural treatments

According to Dr. Sung, his ultimate goal is to develop probiotic treatments and individualized diets, tailored to a patient’s unique gut microbiome characteristics, to alleviate disease symptoms and improve overall health.

“Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said ‘Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.’ I believe that we will eventually be able to use customized diets and probiotic ‘cocktails’ to naturally manipulate a person’s microbiome and potentially reverse disease and improve health without using potentially toxic pharmaceutical medications,” says Dr. Sung.

His current work in the Microbiome Program focuses on three areas:

• Building a mathematical model to find better diagnostic tests and treatments: Using computational data analysis tools, Dr. Sung is using patient data to create individualized models of gut microbiome ecology. These models will be used to predict how changes in microbes will affect the bacterial community and whether the changes may promote good health or cause disease. Dr. Sung plans to use these models to develop better diagnostic tests and treatments for any condition linked to the microbiome.
• Creating a biomarker panel to diagnose disease earlier: Dr. Sung is working to develop a screening test that uses patients’ stool samples to detect changes in their gut bacteria that are linked to a particular disease. This type of screening test may be able to diagnose conditions like colon cancer earlier, even before a patient experiences symptoms.
• Exploring new ways to prevent and treat childhood obesity: In collaboration with clinical researchers, Dr. Sung is trying to identify what factors lead to the development of childhood obesity, such as genetics, education background, cultural background, childhood trauma, breast fed versus formula fed infants, and infant and toddler microbiome characteristics. By understanding the underlying factors that cause childhood obesity, Dr. Sung and his team hope to develop new treatments and interventions for the condition.

From chemical reactions to gut reactions that impact health  

Dr. Sung’s training as a chemical engineer set the foundation for his approach to studying the microbiome.

“As a chemical engineer, I am trained to design and run an entire chemical plant, managing all the chemical reactions and manufacturing processes to make raw natural resources into chemical commodities. As a systems biologist, I am now exploring gut reactions and the role of all biological processes simultaneously taking place in our body’s microbiome. If we can understand and manipulate how our bacterial communities function, we can make real strides in controlling disease and improving gut wellness,” says Dr. Sung.

While fascinated by the scientific aspects of his research, Dr. Sung is especially motivated by the patients he hopes to help with his work.

“From a scientific perspective, I enjoy collaborating with my Mayo colleagues, each with different backgrounds and views on science, to further unlock the mysteries of the microbiome. From a humanitarian perspective, I have the opportunity to participate in research that focuses on changing someone’s life for the better. This thought motivates me every day,” says Dr. Sung.

Learn more about microbiome research at Mayo Clinic

• Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program
• Exploring the link between the gut and multiple sclerosis
• Study: are food and antibiotics linked to irritable bowel syndrome?
• Vaginal microbes point toward early detection and screening for endometrial cancer
• Probiotics and diet: learning the facts about gut health
• This diet’s for you: personalized nutrition to improve your health

Hear experts in microbiome research and precision medicine

This year’s Individualizing Medicine Conference will feature two distinguished experts in the human microbiome: Rob Knight, Ph.D., and David Relman, M.D., who will share their compelling research at the conference on Oct. 9-10 in Rochester, Minnesota. Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine is hosting the sixth annual conference with support from the Jackson Family Foundation.

• Register today via the conference website.
• See the schedule.
• Review the list of speakers.

Join our community

Follow the latest news related to the conference on the Center for Individualized Medicine blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter at @MayoClinicCIM and use the hashtag #CIMCon17.

The post The magic of the microbiome: new Mayo researcher looks for ways to promote health, prevent disease appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Could the bacteria in a person’s digestive system provide a clue about whether he or she may develop multiple sclerosis? This is a question that Mayo Clinic researchers asked when trying to unravel the causes of multiple sclerosis, a potentially debilitating condition that impacts a person’s nervous system. A Mayo Clinic study published in Scientific Reports demonstrates that patients with multiple sclerosis have a unique gut microbiome - the community of bacteria in the digestive system - when compared to that of healthy patients.

“Patients with multiple sclerosis have more gastrointestinal problems such as constipation and irritable bowel disease. Studies have shown that a lack of certain bacteria within the gut can impair the immune system and may predispose a patient to develop inflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis. Therefore, we wanted to compare the gut bacteria from patients with multiple sclerosis to the gut bacteria of healthy individuals. Our findings show that there is a connection that needs to be explored further,” says Nicholas Chia, Ph.D. , one of the study investigators and associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program.

Impact on patient care

Approximately 85 percent of patients who experience symptoms from multiple sclerosis have recurring episodes. While there is currently no cure for multiple sclerosis, there are treatments to manage symptoms.

While multiple sclerosis is thought to be caused by both genetic and environmental factors, the exact environmental factors that lead to the disease are unknown.

By identifying the role that gut bacteria plays in causing multiple sclerosis, researchers hope to develop new ways to detect the disease, treat symptoms and even prevent the disease from developing.

“Gut bacteria could be a key environmental factor, along with genetic factors, in causing a person to develop multiple sclerosis. Our study lays the groundwork for future research. Large scale research studies are needed to examine gut bacteria of multiple sclerosis patients at multiple time points and different stages of the disease, says Ashutosh Mangalam, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Pathology, University of Iowa and co-author of the study.

According to Dr. Mangalam, future studies will address questions such as:

• Do multiple sclerosis patients with disease relapses have a distinct gut microbiome compared to patients in remission?
• Are there certain types of gut bacteria which are present in either a lower or higher proportion in multiple sclerosis patients compared to healthy patients?
• Can gut microbiota profiling be used to identify bacterial markers that predict whether multiple sclerosis patients will relapse?
• Do changes in the gut microbiota in multiple sclerosis patients impact the effect of commonly used multiple sclerosis drugs, such as Copaxone, and beta-Interferons?
• Can multiple sclerosis patients be treated with the use of medications and/or changes in diet (prebiotics) to alter their gut microbiota in order to stop the progression or prevent the disease?

Learn more about the role of the microbiome in health and disease

• Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program
• Study: are food and antibiotics linked to irritable bowel syndrome?
• Vaginal microbes point toward early detection and screening for endometrial cancer
• Probiotics and diet: learning the facts about gut health
• This diet’s for you: personalized nutrition to improve your health
• Microbiome: All You Need is Bugs

Learn more about precision medicine and join our community

Get the latest news from the Center for Individualized Medicine. Visit our blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter at @MayoClinicCIM.

Save the date for the next Individualizing Medicine Conference on  Oct. 9-11, 2017.

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The cause of rheumatoid arthritis, a systemic autoimmune disease, is unknown. But certain genes and environmental factors, such as smoking, are linked to the disease process. Now Mayo Clinic research suggests a new link: the composition of gut microbes.

Veena Taneja, Ph.D., an immunologist at Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine, recently demonstrated a relationship between the gut microbiota - also called the microbiome - and rheumatoid arthritis. The study -- published in Genome Medicine -- aimed to find an indicator that would predict susceptibility to the disease.

“These are exciting discoveries that we may be able to use to personalize treatment for patients,” Dr. Taneja says. The paper summarizes a study of rheumatoid arthritis patients, their relatives and a healthy control group. It examined differences in microbial communities between these groups and used a mouse model of the disease to confirm effects of targeted microbes identified in the humans.

The findings suggested susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis could be triggered by changes in gut microbial profiles. The authors note that an abundance of certain rare bacteria (Collinsella aerofaciens and Eggerthella lenta) and a decline in beneficial Faecalibacterium cause a microbial imbalance in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

“After further research,” says Dr. Taneja, “intestinal microbiota could help scientists build a predictive profile for who is at risk to develop rheumatoid arthritis and the course the disease will take.”

It could also help patients according to John Davis III, M.D., and Eric Matteson, M.D., Mayo Clinic rheumatologists and study co-authors. The presence of these bacteria may lead to new ways to diagnose patients and reduce the imbalance linked to rheumatoid arthritis before or in its early stages.

Dr Taneja and her team are working to find beneficial bacteria to correct the microbial imbalance that will stop disease progression.

The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine funded the study. The center supports research to find treatments compatible with a patient’s unique genetic structure. It also supports the transformation of research discoveries into practical applications for patient care.

- Colette Rector, August 4, 2016

The post Discovery’s Edge: Linking gut bacteria to Rheumatoid Arthritis appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Clostridium difficile

, also called C. difficile, is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. Some patients with C. difficile do not benefit from standard therapy and the condition frequently comes back.

Now researchers in the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine have new hope for selecting the right treatments for patients to stop the infection and alleviate painful symptoms sooner. They have discovered changes in the gut microbiome, the community of bacteria in the digestive tract, that predict how a patient with C. difficile will respond to treatment.

Purna Kashyap, M.B.B.S., of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and associate director of the Center for Individualized Medicine Microbiome Program, and colleagues conducted a study of patients with C. difficile, finding gut microbiome signatures that predict treatment response and recurrence. This is important because those patients who will not benefit from the standard antibiotic therapy or have a high likelihood of recurrence can be given alternative therapies sooner. The study of “Gut Microbiome Predictors of Treatment Response and Recurrence in Primary Clostridium Difficile Infection” is published in the Aug. 2 edition of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

“In this study, we identified microbiome markers at the time of initial diagnosis that can predict response to therapy in patients with C. difficile infection. This would allow early identification of patients who are less likely to respond to conventional treatment and candidates for alternate therapy such as fecal microbiota transplant,” says Dr. Kashyap.

The study included 88 patients who had experienced their first episode of C. difficile infection. Researchers collected and analyzed pre-treatment stool samples using DNA-sequencing for the gene encoding 16S rRNA, to identify changes in the gut microbiome. Investigators then correlated these bacterial changes to how well patients responded to treatment, enabling them to identify predictors of treatment response and recurrence.

“This study highlights the utility of next generation microbiome-based precision medicine tools for personalized treatment approaches. Our findings provide an example of how microbiome-based diagnostics can improve patient care by selecting the right treatment for patients,” says Dr. Kashyap.

Each year in the United States, more than half a million people get sick with C. difficile. In the past, C. difficile occurred most frequently in patients taking antibiotics or those over age 65 in a hospital or long term care facility. However, the number of younger, healthy adults with C. difficile is increasing and in recent years, C. difficile infections have become more frequent, severe and difficult to treat.

According to Dr. Kashyap, the next phase of research will focus on validating the findings and developing laboratory tests to identify microbiome predictors.

Additional authors on the research team include Sahil Khanna, M.B.B.S., Robin Patel, M.D., Darrell Pardi, M.D., and Bradley Schmidt, all of Mayo Clinic; Emmanuel Montassier, M.D., Ph.D.,  Université de Nantes, France; and Dan Knights, Ph.D., University of Minnesota.

The study was supported by the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, and grants from the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Genomics, and National Institutes of Health.

Join us to learn more about the microbiome and other aspects of precision medicine

Learn more about ongoing research efforts in the Center for Individualized Medicine’s Microbiome Program, including current research projects and stories about how this research has helped patients.

Hear experts discuss the latest research in precision medicine, including exploration of the microbiome, and how individualized medicine can improve treatments for many conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and autism.

Attend Individualizing Medicine 2016: Advancing Care Through Genomics. The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, is hosting the fifth annual genomics conference, October 5–6, in Rochester, Minn.

• For a complete schedule and list of speakers, visit the conference website.
• You may also learn more about the conference on the video blog series, “Story by Story.”
• Follow the latest news related to the conference on the Center for Individualized Medicine blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitterat @MayoClinicCIM and use the hashtag #CIMCon16.

The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine is hosting the conference with support from the Satter Foundation.

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — The bacteria in your gut do more than break down your food. They also can predict susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis, suggests Veena Taneja, Ph.D., an immunologist at Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine. Dr. Taneja recently published two studies ─ one in Genome Medicine and one in Arthritis and Rheumatology ─ connecting the dots between gut microbiota and rheumatoid arthritis.

More than 1.5 million Americans have rheumatoid arthritis, a disorder that causes painful swelling in the joints. Scientists have a limited understanding of the processes that trigger the disease. Dr. Taneja and her team identified intestinal bacteria as a possible cause; their studies indicate that testing for specific microbiota in the gut can help physicians predict and prevent the onset of rheumatoid arthritis.

“These are exciting discoveries that we may be able to use to personalize treatment for patients,” Dr. Taneja says.

The paper published in Genome Medicine summarizes a study of rheumatoid arthritis patients, their relatives and a healthy control group. The study aimed to find a biomarker — or a substance that indicates a disease, condition or phenomena — that predicts susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. They noted that an abundance of certain rare bacterial lineages causes a microbial imbalance that is found in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

MEDIA CONTACT: Colette Rector, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

“Using genomic sequencing technology, we were able to pin down some gut microbes that were normally rare and of low abundance in healthy individuals, but expanded in patients with rheumatoid arthritis,” Dr. Taneja says.

Implications for predicting and preventing rheumatoid arthritis

After further research in mice and, eventually, humans, intestinal microbiota and metabolic signatures could help scientists build a predictive profile for who is likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis and the course the disease will take, Dr. Taneja says.

Based on mouse studies, researchers found an association between the gut microbe Collinsella and the arthritis phenotype. The presence of these bacteria may lead to new ways to diagnose patients and to reduce the imbalance that causes rheumatoid arthritis before or in its early stages, according to John Davis III, M.D., and Eric Matteson, M.D., Mayo Clinic rheumatologists and study co-authors. Continued research could lead to preventive treatments.

Possibility for more effective treatment with fewer side effects

The second paper, published in Arthritis and Rheumatology, explored another facet of gut bacteria. Dr. Taneja treated one group of arthritis-susceptible mice with a bacterium, Prevotella histicola, and compared that to a group that had no treatment. The study found that mice treated with the bacterium had decreased symptom frequency and severity, and fewer inflammatory conditions associated with rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment produced fewer side effects, such as weight gain and villous atrophy — a condition that prevents the gut from absorbing nutrients — that may be linked with other, more traditional  treatments.

While human trials have not yet taken place, the mice’s immune systems and arthritis mimic humans, and shows promise for similar, positive effects. Since this bacterium is a part of healthy human gut, treatment is less likely to have side effects, says study co-author Joseph Murray, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder; it occurs when the body mistakenly attacks itself. The body breaks down tissues around joints, causing swelling that can erode bone and deform the joints. The disease can damage other parts of the body, including the skin, eyes, heart, lung and blood vessels.

The study was funded by the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, which supports research that aims to find treatments compatible with a patient’s unique genetic structure. It also supports the transformation of research discoveries into practical applications for patient care.

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, whole-person care to everyone who needs healing. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic or https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/.

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