New Delhi, November 8 (IANS). Researchers have discovered changes in the gut microbiome that trigger the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. With this, timely treatment of this disease will be possible.
Researchers at the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK, found that inflammatory bacteria are present in greater quantities in the gut about 10 months before patients develop clinical rheumatoid arthritis.
These findings will help identify people at risk for this disease. It will also help in carrying out preventive and special treatment.
To understand this better, researchers followed 124 people at risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis for 15 months. Of these, seven were recently diagnosed with the disease while 22 were healthy. Changes in the gut microbiome profile were assessed using stool and blood samples at five different time points.
The research found that sufferers complained of joint pain three months before developing rheumatoid arthritis and had antibodies called anti-cyclic citrullinated protein (anti-CCP), which attacks healthy cells.
During the study, 30 of 124 people at risk for the disease developed rheumatoid arthritis. Compared to a healthy comparison group, the diversity in their microbiome was also reduced.
The researchers found that genetic, blood and other types of factors known to be responsible for the development of arthritis were also deeply linked to a lack of diversity in the microbiome, as has been linked to steroid use.
Researchers have said that changes in the intestinal microbiome occur quite late. This study is based only on observation and further study is needed in this regard.
–IANS
PSM/AKJ
