Two studies establish links between the gut microbiota and myasthenia gravis

The role of the gut flora has received close attention in medical research, notably for immune disorders such as myasthenia gravis. Two publications on this subject emerged in the summer of 2021:

  • the results of the German Mybiom study demonstrate, as regards myasthenia (n=42), a less diverse gut flora compared with the healthy control group (n=12), and a significant increase in the abundance of deltaproteobacteria and Faecalibacterium (including in the absence of corticosteroid treatment) vs. patients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders (n=18).
  • another study conducted in China in 53 children with myasthenia and 46 healthy children evidenced significant differences in the abundance of certain bacterial species, which could serve as diagnostic markers, the presence of human adenoviruses only in 10 children with myasthenia, together with a reduction in gut microbiota short-chain fatty acid production and in serum butyrate level in the myasthenia group (with or without anti-AChR).

It should be noted that an observational study in progress in the United States is investigating for correlations between the composition of the gut microbiota and myasthenia evaluated based on data provided by patients and obtained from their medical records. 100 participants, adults and children, are expected to take part.

 

Gut bacterial microbiota in patients with myasthenia gravis: results from the MYBIOM study. Totzeck A, Ramakrishnan E, Schlag M et al. Ther Adv Neurol Disord. 2021 Aug 11;14:17562864211035657.

 

Metagenome-wide association study of gut microbiome revealed potential microbial marker set for diagnosis of pediatric myasthenia gravis. Liu P, Jiang Y, Gu S, Xue Y et al. BMC Med. 2021 Jul 8;19(1):159.