A team from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) publishes the results of a comparative study of the gut microbiota of 36 dermatomyositis patients and 26 controls. They show :
- a lower diversity of microbial flora in the dermatomyositis group, even more marked in the subgroup (n=12) of patients with pulmonary involvement (interstitial lung disease) and myositis-specific autoantibodies (antisynthetase, anti-MDA5),
- a unique microbial signature in this same subgroup, with a significant increase in the relative abundance of proteobacteria
- a correlation between the over-representation of proteobacteria and the expression of genes involved in the synthesis and transport of lipopolysaccharides, endotoxins whose release promotes inflammation and endothelial damage, and dermatomyositis is characterised by vasculopathy.
Voir aussi « Dermatomyosite : un microbiote intestinal particulier ? »
