December 22, 2018

Dr. Martin Kriegel and his colleagues at Yale University just published in Cell Host & Microbe an animal study partly funded by the Lupus Research Alliance that showed how diet may affect lupus.

In this study, the team identified a specific bacteria, Lactobacillus reuteri, that was responsible for triggering an autoimmune response.  Living naturally in the gut of many animals and birds, this bacteria is commonly found in some probiotics.  The researchers fed the mice a “resistant starch” diet similar to a high-fiber diet in humans and found that the bacteria was suppressed while good bacteria was enriched.

“We dissected, molecularly, how diets can work on the gut microbiome,” said Dr. Kriegel. “We identified a pathway that is driving autoimmune disease and mitigated by the diet.”

Source: Yale University Press Release