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Does the buck stop with the bugs?: an overview of microbial dysbiosis in rheumatoid arthritis
Author(s) -
Sandhya Pulukool,
Danda Debashish,
Sharma Disha,
Scaria Vinod
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1756-185X
pISSN - 1756-1841
DOI - 10.1111/1756-185x.12728
Subject(s) - dysbiosis , microbiome , rheumatoid arthritis , human microbiome , human microbiome project , gut flora , medicine , gut microbiome , disease , biology , computational biology , bioinformatics , immunology , pathology
The human body is an environmental niche which is home to diverse co‐habiting microbes collectively referred as the human microbiome. Recent years have seen the in‐depth characterization of the human microbiome and associations with diseases. Linking of the composition or number of the human microbiota with diseases and traits date back to the original work of E lie M etchnikoff. Recent advances in genomic technologies have opened up finer details and dynamics of this new science with higher precision. Microbe‐rheumatoid arthritis connection, largely related to the gut and oral microbiomes, has showed up as a result – apart from several other earlier, well‐studied candidate autoimmune diseases. Although evidence favouring roles of specific microbial species, including P orphyromonas , P revotella and L eptotricha , has become clearer , mechanistic insights still continue to be enigmatic. Manipulating the microbes by traditional dietary modifications, probiotics, and antibiotics and by currently employed disease‐modifying agents seems to modulate the disease process and its progression. In the present review, we appraise the existing information as well as the gaps in knowledge in this challenging field. We also discuss the future directions for potential clinical applications, including prevention and management of rheumatoid arthritis using microbial modifications.