Research Reveals Potential Regulator of Gut Bacteria Imbalance in MS Lab Model
February 9, 2021
A team of researchers from Germany, Spain, and Switzerland report that the immune messenger protein “IL-17” appears to be a key regulator of gut bacteria content and activity, and that this regulation contributes to susceptibility to an MS-like disease in mice. Mice with normal IL-17 had differences in gut bacteria from mice that were engineered to lack this protein. When mice lacking IL-17 shared cages with normal mice, their gut bacteria normalized and they became more susceptible to MS-like disease.
This research contributes to the increasing evidence that gut bacteria play a key role in MS. These studies were partly funded by the National MS Society.
Want to participate in gut bacteria research? People with MS can see if they are eligible here:
International MS Microbiome Study
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Read a scientific summary of the paper in Science Immunology