Research that really has guts

We all know just how much of an impact what we put into our bodies can have on our overall health and wellbeing. The gut is the primary contact with what we eat, drink and everything. 

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Professor Claudia Mauri and her colleague Dr Diana Matei. They’re carrying out exciting new research at University College London into the gut, and its connection to autoimmune conditions such as MS.

Why is the gut interesting in autoimmune conditions?

In MS, your immune system mistakenly attacks your own cells. The same thing happens in other autoimmune conditions, like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. This process is understood but unfortunately it’s still incredibly difficult to pin down the cause as there’s probably not just one.

Learn more about what MS is

Claudia paints an interesting picture of the human body. She tells me around 90% of all the cells in our body are in fact bacteria cells. We’re simply a massive reservoir tank for bacteria, especially our gut!

She mentioned people with some autoimmune conditions, including MS, have different bacteria compared to other people. And this might change intestinal permeability, or gut leakiness as it is more commonly known. Gut leakiness means things from the gut can leak into the blood. Claudia believes this may contribute to MS damage. 

Linking autoimmune conditions together

Claudia previously carried out studies in mice and people with rheumatoid arthritis. She found they both had higher levels of intestinal permeability. And stopping the gut from being leaky reduced arthritis symptoms in mice.

Now they want to find out whether two other autoimmune diseases – MS and lupus – also show this.

Serotonin from the gut

Claudia and Diana are also interested in serotonin, a chemical which helps to send signals between nerve cells. It’s sometimes better known for its role as a feel-good hormone.

Production of serotonin is a complex process, but the roots of it can be found in the cells of the gut.

They’ve previously found mice with rheumatoid arthritis didn’t have as many of these serotonin-producing gut cells. And giving them serotonin reduced their symptoms. They want to see if the same is true for MS and lupus.

Some studies have also shown that people with autoimmune conditions such as MS may have lower levels of serotonin. They hope to confirm this and see if mice with MS can be helped in the same way.

Claudia explained serotonin is made from a molecule called tryptophan, found in leafy vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli. But nobody’s suggesting we should all be eating 5kg of broccoli a day. We’d be very unpopular to be around!

Working together to find treatments for MS

These scientists believe our search for a cure for MS needs to look at all possibilities. The COVID-19 vaccine has shown working together allows us to reach goals much faster and increase the chances of success. Research collaborations into different autoimmune conditions could do the same.

What excites Claudia and Diana most, is that somehow the gut could link all these autoimmune conditions together. It’s still some way off. But perhaps if we could restore gut health, this could potentially help develop treatments for all autoimmune conditions. They think this would be one of the most interesting and important things they could do.

Helping MS research

Claudia and Diana's research is one of ten new projects funded by Connect Immune Research and the Lorna & Yuti Chernajovsky Biomedical Research Foundation. 

The MS Society is part of the Connect Immune Research partnership. This joins leading organisations in autoimmune research to help develop new treatments, including: 

• JDRF
• Versus Arthritis
• MS Society
• British Society for Immunology
• Alopecia UK, Coeliac UK
• Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance
• Bowel Research UK.

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This blog came from an article in MS Matters. Read the issue and explore the full back catalogue.