Researchers Find That a Gut Bacteria May Weaken the Symptoms of Lupus

Researchers at Virginia Tech performed a test to measure the amount of Clostridia and Lactobacillus in mice with lupus and found that the more Clostridia present in the female mice, the slower the disease progressed and the converse for the more Lactobacillus present. These investigators also performed another series of experiments where the lupus mice were treated with retinoic acid or retinoic acid and vitamin A. Although these two were expected to help the symptoms in these mice, they actually worsened. The research strongly suggests that altering the gut microbiota in individuals with lupus may mitigate lupus symptoms. The principle investigator also suggests that individuals with lupus eat yogurt containing Lactobacillus for it will help with flare ups.

This article stuck out to me because my best friend has lupus and struggles with flare ups every few months and consequently requires extensive treatment. I do hope that more research is done on these gut bacteria to prove their effectiveness and also that more research is done on lupus and other autoimmune diseases in other areas of cause and treatments.

Original Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141020212750.htm

Related Article: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/825045