Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the insulation surrounding neurons. However, the initial causal factors are still a mystery.
Because multiple sclerosis tend to be regional, researchers from UConn and Washington University attempted a well integrated study to assess the relation ship between multiple sclerosis and diet, gut microbiome, immune system, and blood metabolite. The study involved 49 volunteers, 25 with MS and 24 without to assess those correlations.
The researchers found that MS was highly linked to eating meat and the down stream effects thereof. Eating meat consumption was associated with decrease population of gut bacteria Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. In addition, higher meet consumption by the MS group was also associated with increase in T-helper 17 cells of the immune system and increased S-adenosyl-L-methionine in the blood.
While many people can eat a lot of meat and not develop MS, eating meat does appear to create an increased opportunity in developing MS.
“This is the first study using an integrated approach to analyze the interplay between diet, gut microbiome, the immune system and metabolism and their contribution to disease pathogenesis and progression in people with MS. It opens a new modality to address future scientific questions by not looking at one individual factor, but at their complex interactions. This approach can lead to the identification of relevant networks that could be manipulated for disease prevention or therapeutic intervention,” said author, Laura Piccio.
If you develop MS and you have been eating high volumes of meat in your life, you’re creating a perfect storm to earn your disease. The power of a plant-based diet and eliminating animal products also provide so many other benefits including decreasing the risk of MS.
C Cantoni et al. Alterations of host-gut microbiome interactions in multiple sclerosis. eBioMedicine 2022. Online First: 01/27/2022. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103798
