Gut dysbiosis breaks immunological tolerance toward the central nervous system during young adulthood

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is classified as an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Alterations of gut microbiota (gut dysbiosis) are frequently observed in MS patients. It is still unknown how gut dysbiosis contributes to development of MS. We report here that gut dysbiosis, which we attribute to expansion of enteric pathogenic bacteria, triggers and/or exacerbates the spontaneous development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of MS. This occurs during the period of young adulthood by reducing development of Foxp3 + Treg cells and expression of E3 ubiquitin ligase genes involved in protection from autoimmune diseases. This study suggests that gut dysbiosis may play a pathological role in the initiation and/or progression of MS during a defined age window.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Oct 16, 2017
Source ID
10.1073/pnas.1615715114

Entities

People

  • Ankoor Patel
  • John E. Mindur
  • Kouichi Ito
  • Martin T. Mathay
  • Naoko Ito
  • Sridhar Boppana
  • Sudhir K. Yadav
  • Suhayl Dhib-jalbut

Organizations

  • Delaware State University
  • Harvard Medical School
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
  • New Jersey Health Foundation
  • Rutgers University
  • United States Army Medical Research and Development Command
  • University of Washington

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Medicine

Readers

  • Immunology and Pathology
  • Microbial Pathology
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology