Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology (Dec 2021)

The gut microbiota in pediatric multiple sclerosis and demyelinating syndromes

  • Helen Tremlett,
  • Feng Zhu,
  • Douglas Arnold,
  • Amit Bar‐Or,
  • Charles N. Bernstein,
  • Christine Bonner,
  • Jessica D. Forbes,
  • Morag Graham,
  • Janace Hart,
  • Natalie C. Knox,
  • Ruth Ann Marrie,
  • Ali I. Mirza,
  • Julia O’Mahony,
  • Gary Van Domselaar,
  • E. Ann Yeh,
  • Yinshan Zhao,
  • Brenda Banwell,
  • Emmanuelle Waubant,
  • the US Network of Pediatric MS Centers, the Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Network

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51476
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 12
pp. 2252 – 2269

Abstract

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Abstract Objective To examine the gut microbiota in individuals with and without pediatric‐onset multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods We compared stool‐derived microbiota of Canadian Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Network study participants ≤21 years old, with MS (disease‐modifying drug [DMD] exposed and naïve) or monophasic acquired demyelinating syndrome [monoADS] (symptom onset 0.1), taxa‐level and gut community networks did. MS (vs. monoADS) exhibited > fourfold higher relative abundance of the superphylum Patescibacteria (aRR = 4.2;95%CI:1.6–11.2, p = 0.004, Q = 0.01), and lower abundances of short‐chain fatty acid (SCFA)‐producing Lachnospiraceae (Anaerosporobacter) and Ruminococcaceae (p, Q eightfold higher abundance for Candidatus Stoquefichus and Tyzzerella (aRR = 8.8–12.8, p < 0.05) in MS cases and 72%–80% lower abundance of SCFA‐producing Ruminococcaceae‐NK4A214 (aRR = 0.38–0.2, p ≤ 0.01). Interpretation Gut microbiota community structure, function and connectivity, and not just individual taxa, are of likely importance in MS.